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SHAKESPEARE'S 



COMEDY OF 



LOVE'S LABOUR 'S LOST 



EDITED, WITH NOTES 

BY 

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D. 

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, 
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 



ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK-:- CINCINNATI-:. CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



tuples r;sctf/ve<( 
Jopyngiu tniry 

COPY 3. 



Shakespearian* 



Copyright, 1882 and 1898, by 
HARPER & BROTHERS. 

Copyright, 1905, by 
WILLIAM J. ROLFE. 



LOVES LABOUR S LOST. 
W. P. I 



• t 

• • • 



PREFACE 

This play, originally edited by me in 1882, is now 
very carefully revised on the same general plan as the 
earlier volumes of the new series. 

Dr. Furness's " New Variorum " edition of the play 
did not appear until after my revised copy had gone to 
the printer, but I have fortunately been able to make 
some use of it in reading the proofs of my Notes. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction to Love's Labour 's Lost 
The History of the Play . 
The Sources of the Plot . 
General Comments on the Play 

Love's Labour's Lost 
Act I 
Act II 
Act III 
Act IV 
ActV 

Notes . 



9 
9 

15 
18 

27 
29 
48 
60 
69 
99 

147 



Appendix 

Shakespeare and Florio 

" Love's Labour 's Lost " and Tennyson's " Princess " 

Time-Analysis of the Play 

List of Characters in the Play .... 



219 
222 
223 

225 



Index of Words and Phrases Explained 



227 




\ ^ ^ 

Dull, Costard and Jaquenetta 




Costumes of the Period 

INTRODUCTION TO LOVE'S LABOUR'S 

LOST 



The History of the Play 

The earliest edition of Love's Labour 's Lost that has 
come down to us is a quarto published in 1598, the 
title-page of which describes it as " a pleasant conceited 
comedie . . . presented before her Highnes this last 
Christmas," and as " by W. Shakespere," 

The earliest mention of the play that has been dis- 
covered is in the following lines from a poem entitled 
Alba, or the Months Mind of a Melancholy Lover, 
by " R. T. Gentleman " (Robert Tofte), published in 
1598: — 



io Love's Labour's Lost 

" Love's Labour Lost I once did see, a Play 

Y-cleped so, so called to my paine. 

Which I to heare to my small Ioy did stay, 

Giving attendance on my froward Dame : 

My misgiving minde presaging to me ill, 

Yet was I drawne to see it 'gainst my will. 
****** 

Each Actor plaid in cunning wise his part, 

But chiefly Those entrapt in Cupids snare ; 

Yet All was fained, 't was not from the hart, 

They seemde to grieve, but yet they felt no care : 
'T was I that Griefe (indeed) did beare in brest, 
The others did but make a show in lest." 

The play is also included in Francis Meres 's famous 
list of Shakespeare's works in his Palladis Tamia, 
printed in 1598. 

It was doubtless written as early as 1591, and some 
critics date it two or three years earlier — Furnivall in 
1588-89, and Grant White as " probably not later than 
1588." 

Among the marks of early style may be mentioned : 
the introduction of well-known old characters (besides 
" the Nine Worthies," we have what Biron calls " the 
pedant, the braggart, the hedge priest, the fool, and the 
boy"); the observance of the "unities"; the abun- 
dance of rhyme ; the doggerel ; the sonnets (occasionally 
as speeches) ; the alliteration, or " affecting the letter," 
as Holofernes calls it; the quibbles, antitheses, rep- 
artees, " the sparkles of wit, like a blaze of fireworks " 
(Schlegel) ; the proverbial expressions ; the peculiar 
and pedantic grammatical constructions ; the words 



Introduction II 

used in their native forms ; the display of learning ; 
the pairs of characters ; the disguising and changing 
of persons ; the chorus-like, alternate answers ; the 
strained dialogue, etc. It is "a play of conversation 
and situation " (Furnivall), in which " depth of charac- 
terization is subordinate to elegance and sprightliness 
of dialogue " (Staunton). 

The play is poorly printed in both the quarto and the 
folio, and the repetition of sundry typographical errors 
proves that the latter was set up from a copy of the 
former. There are, however, variations in the two 
texts which indicate that the editors of the folio were 
occasionally indebted to some other authority than the 
quarto. 

The edition of 1598 is evidently, as the title-page 
informs us, " newly corrected and augmented." In 
two instances a lucky blunder of the printer has pre- 
served the original form of a passage together with the 
revised version — the only such illustrations of the 
dramatist " in the workshop " that are to be found in 
all his works. Elsewhere we have examples of early 
and later composition in different passages of a play, 
but never in the same passage. 

In Biron's long speech (iv. 3. 287 fol.) we have these 
lines : 1 — 

" For when would you, my lord, — or you, — or you, — 
Have found the ground of study's excellence 

1 I print the passages here for the convenience of the reader in com- 
paring them instead of referring him to the text of the play. 



12 Love's Labour's Lost 

Without the beauty of a woman's face ? 
From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : 
They are the ground, the books, the academes, 
From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire. 

****** 
For where is any author in the world 
Teaches such beauty as a woman's eye ? 
Learning is but an adjunct to ourself, 
And where we are our learning likewise is ; 
Then when ourselves we see in ladies' eyes, 
Do we not likewise see our learning there ? 
O, we have made a vow to study, lords, 
And in that vow we have forsworn our books." 

This belongs to the play as first written. Some editors 
strike it out ; but it seems better (as I have done in this 
edition) to retain it enclosed in brackets. It re-appears 
in the revision of the speech thus : — 

" For when would you, my liege, — or you, — or you, — 
In leaden contemplation have found out 
Such fiery numbers as the prompting eyes 
Of beauty's tutors have enrich' d you with ? 

¥& $S ifc $s ?(? TS 

Never durst poet touch a pen to write 
Until his ink were temper' d with Love's sighs; 
O, then his lines would ravish savage ears 
And plant in tyrants mild humility ! 
From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : 
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire; 
They are the books, the arts, the academes, 
That show, contain, and nourish all the world, 
Else none at all in aught proves excellent. 
Then fools you were these women to forswear, 



Introduction 13 

Or, keeping what is sworn, you will prove fools. 
For wisdom's sake, a word that all men love, 
Or for love's sake, a word that loves all men, 
Or for men's sake, the authors of these women, 
Or women's sake, by whom we men are men, 
Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves, 
Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths." 

Again, in v. 2. 821 fol., we find this bit of the origi- 
nal play : — 

" Biron. And what to me, my love ? and what to me ? 
Rosaline. You must be purged too, your sins are rank, 
You are attaint with faults and perjury; 
Therefore if you my favour mean to get, 
A twelvemonth shall you spend, and never rest, 
But seek the weary beds of people sick." 

In the revision Biron's question is transferred to 
Dumain: " But what to me, my love? but what to me? " 
and the passage is altered and expanded thus : — 

" Biron. Studies my lady ? mistress, look on me ; 
Behold the window of my heart, mine eye, 
What humble suit attends thy answer there ; 
Impose some service on me for thy love. 

Rosaline. Oft have I heard of you, my Lord Biron, 
Before I saw you ; and the world's large tongue 
Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks, 
Full of comparisons and wounding flouts, 
Which you on all estates will execute 
That lie within the mercy of your wit. 
To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain, 
And therewithal to win me, if you please, — 
Without the which I am not to be won, — 



14 Love's Labour's Lost 

You shall this twelvemonth term from day to day 
Visit the speechless sick, and still converse 
With groaning wretches ; and your task shall be, 
With all the fierce endeavour of your wit 
To enforce the pained impotent to smile." 

One or two critics — apparently from a desire to save 
the credit of the player editors of the folio, whatever 
be the damage to that of the author — seriously tell us 
that there is no mixing up of early and later work in 
these passages, but that the folio gives us the text as 
Shakespeare wrote or revised it. It is generally agreed, 
however, that fragments of the original text are unques- 
tionably retained in the revised version. In the first 
two passages quoted the correction, as Herford says, 
" has merely served to heighten the vigour of the phras- 
ing;" but the third "throws the divergences of the 
Shakespeare of 1597 from the Shakespeare of eight 
years earlier into glaring relief. The earlier version 
of Rosaline's compact with Biron is singularly jejune. 
The past mistress of quips and cranks seems to take 
up the role of moral censor as a new phase in the game 
of outwitting the lords, and to impose her penalty by 
way of flinging a last decisive shot at her adversary. 
In the latter version she has passed, like the princess, 
into a serious and feeling mood (announced to the 
reader by Biron's question, 'Studies my lady?'), and 
the demand, before petulantly tossed at him in some- 
what jerky iambics, is now gravely formulated in lines 
of subtly varied movement and eloquently rounded 



Introduction 15 

phrase, and with a moral dignity for which certainly 
nothing in her previous bearing prepares us. But then 
Shakespeare, when he thus 'corrected,' was already 
the creator of Portia." 

The Sources of the Plot 

The plot of the play, so far as we know, was original 
with Shakespeare. Dowden remarks : " The play is 
precisely such a one as a clever young man might ima- 
gine, who had come lately from the country — with its 
' daisies pied and violets blue,' its ' merry larks,' its 
maidens who 'bleach their summer smocks,' its pom- 
pous parish schoolmaster and its dull constable (a great 
public official in his own eyes) — to the town, where he 
was surrounded by more brilliant unrealities, and affec- 
tations of dress, of manner, of language, and of ideas. 
Love's Labour 's Lost is a dramatic plea on behalf of 
nature and of common-sense, against all that is unreal 
and affected." 

Grant White, however, believes that the dramatist 
was indebted to some lost original. He says : " That 
the play is founded upon some older work, its undra- 
matic character, its needless fulness of detail, its air of 
artificial romance, and the attribution of particular per- 
sonal traits — such as black eyes and a dark complex- 
ion to one, great size to another, and a face pitted with 
the small-pox to another of the ladies, and the merely 
incidental hints that one of the king's friends is an 
officer in the army and extremely youthful — seem un- 



1 6 Love's Labour's Lost 

mistakable evidence ; and that the story is of French 
origin is as clearly shown by the nationality of the 
titles, the Gallicism of calling a love-letter a capon, the 
appearance of the strong French negative point twice, 
and the use of seigneur instead of signior." 1 

Rev. Joseph Hunter, in his New Illustrations (vol. i. 
p. 256), suggests that the poet may have got a hint from 
Monstrelet's Chronicles, according to which Charles, 
King of Navarre, surrendered to the King of France 
the castle of Cherbourg, the county of Evreux, and 
other lordships for the Duchy of Nemours and a prom- 
ise of 200,000 gold crowns. The hero of the play 
is the King of Navarre, and Sidney Lee has shown 
{Gentleman's Magazine, October, 1880) that Biron and 
Longaville bear the names of the two most strenuous 
supporters of the real king, and that the name Dumain 
is an Anglicized form of that of the Due de Maine 
or Mayenne, who was so often mentioned in popular 
accounts of French affairs in connection with Navarre 
that Shakespeare was led to number him also among 
the king's supporters. Mothe or La Mothe, from whom 
the page perhaps gets his name, was a French ambas- 
sador long popular in London. M. Le Mot is a courtier 

1 This spelling occurs only in i. 2. 10 (" Why tough senior ? ") , where 
the word is not a title. In iii. 1. 177 (" senior-junior ") it is " signior " 
in the early eds. It occurs as a title only in i. 1. 185 and iii. 1. 127, 
where it is "signior" in all the early eds. In the C. of E., where no 
French influence can be suspected, we find in v. 1. 422 ("We '11 draw 
cuts for the senior ") " signior," " signeor," and " signeur." In Rich. 
III., iv. 4. 36, " seniory " (of age) is " signeurie " and " signorie." 



Introduction 17 

in Chapman's Humorous Day's Mirth, 1599, and is 
alluded to in Middleton's Blurt, Master Constable, 1602. 
Armado is a caricature of a half-crazed Spaniard known 
as " fantastical Monarcho," who for many years hung 
about the Court of Elizabeth. Sundry other persons 
and topics of the time are alluded to in the play. 

Monarcho 's " Epitaph," written by Churchyard (1580), 
refers to him as a compound of folly and wit, " grave of 
looks and father-like of face," who uttered "strange 
talk " before strangers, not inclined to mirth, but " well 
disposed if any prince took pleasure in the mirth he 
made " — or " loved to hear him lie," as the King says 
of Armado. Churchyard (quoted by Herford) apostro- 
phizes him thus : — 

" Thy climbing mind aspir'd beyond the stars ; 
Thy lofty style no earthly title bore ; 
Thy wits would seem to see through peace and wars, 
Thy taunting tongue was pleasant, sharp, and sore, 
And tho' thy pride and pomp was somewhat vain 
The Monarch had a deep-discoursing brain." 

" But," as Herford adds, " Armado need not be in any 
sense a portrait of Monarcho, any more than of John 
Lyly, Antonio Perez, or Philip II., with whom different 
critics have confidently identified him." Neither is 
there any ground for supposing that in Holofernes the 
dramatist caricatured John Florio, the eminent Italian 
scholar and translator of Montaigne ; nor has Rosaline 
though a brunette any relationship to the " dark lady " 
of the Sonnets, as certain critics have assumed. The 
love's labour — 2 



1 8 Love's Labour's Lost 

satire in the play is nowise personal, but is evidently 
directed against the general pedantry and literary 
affectations of the times. 

General Comments on the Play 

The best critics take the view of the play which has just 
been expressed. Coleridge remarks : " The characters 
are either impersonated out of Shakspeare's own multi- 
formity by imaginative self -position, or out of such as a 
country town and schoolboy's observation might supply 
— the curate, the schoolmaster, the Armado (who even 
in my time was not extinct in the cheaper inns of North 
Wales), and so on. The satire is chiefly on follies of 
words. Biron and Rosaline are evidently the pre- 
existent state of Benedick and Beatrice, and so, perhaps, 
is Boyet of Lafeu, and Costard of the Tapster in Meas- 
ure for Measure ; and the frequency of the rhymes, the 
sweetness as well as the smoothness of the metre, and 
the number of acute and fancifully illustrated aphorisms, 
are all as they ought to be in a poet's youth. True 
genius begins by generalizing and condensing ; it ends 
in realizing and expanding. It first collects the seeds. 

" Yet if this juvenile drama had been the only one 
extant of our Shakspeare, and we possessed the tradition 
only of his riper works, or accounts of them in writers 
who had not even mentioned this play, how many of 
Shakspeare's characteristic features might we not still 
have discovered in Love's Labour 's Lost, though as in a 
portrait taken of him in his boyhood ! 



Introduction 19 

" I can never sufficiently admire the wonderful ac- 
tivity of thought throughout the whole of the first scene 
of the play, rendered natural, as it is, by the choice of 
the characters, and the whimsical determination on 
which the drama is founded. A whimsical determi- 
nation certainly; yet not altogether so very improb- 
able to those who are conversant in the history of the 
Middle Ages, with their Courts of Love, and all that 
lighter drapery of chivalry, which engaged even mighty 
kings with a sort of serio-comic interest, and may well 
be supposed to have occupied more completely the 
smaller princes, at a time when the noble's or prince's 
court contained the only theatre of the domain or prin- 
cipality. This sort of story, too, was admirably suited 
to Shakspeare's times, when the English court was still 
the foster-mother of the state and the muses ; and when, 
in consequence, the courtiers, and men of rank and 
fashion, affected a display of wit, point, and sententious 
observation that would be deemed intolerable at present, 
but in which a hundred years of controversy, involving 
every great political, and every dear domestic, interest, 
had trained all but the lowest classes to participate. . . . 

" Hence the comic matter chosen in the first instance 
is a ridiculous imitation or apery of this constant striv- 
ing after logical precision, and subtle opposition of 
thoughts, together with a making the most of every 
conception or image, by expressing it under the least 
expected property belonging to it, and this, again, ren- 
dered specially absurd by being applied to the most 



20 Love's Labour's Lost 

current subjects and occurrences. The phrases and 
modes of combination in argument were caught by the 
most ignorant from the custom of the age, and their 
ridiculous misapplication of them is most amusingly 
exhibited in Costard ; whilst examples suited only to 
the gravest propositions and impersonations, or apos- 
trophes to abstract thoughts impersonated, which are in 
fact the natural language only of the most vehement 
agitations of the mind, are adopted by the coxcombry 
of Armado as mere artifices of ornament. 

" The same kind of intellectual action is exhibited in 
a more serious and elevated strain in many other parts 
of this play. Biron's speech at the end of the fourth 
act is an excellent specimen of it. It is logic clothed in 
rhetoric ; but observe how Shakspeare, in his twofold 
being of poet and philosopher, avails himself of it to 
convey profound truths in the most lively images — the 
whole remaining faithful to the character supposed to 
utter the lines, and the expressions themselves constitut- 
ing a further development of that character." 

I will add portions of Verplanck's comments on the 
play (in his edition of Shakespeare, 1847), which un- 
fortunately are out of print and not accessible in many 
of the libraries : — 

" There is a general concurrence of opinion, both 
traditional and critical, that this play was among Shake- 
speare's earliest dramatic works. ... Its general re- 
semblance of style and thought to his other early works, 
and especially the ' frequency of the rhymes, the sweet- 



Introduction 21 

ness as well as the smoothness of the metre, and the 
number of acute and fancifully illustrated aphorisms,' 
all correspond with the idea of a youthful work ; while, 
as in others of his early works, we also find in the per- 
sonages the rudiments of characters, slightly sketched, 
to which he afterwards returned, and, without repeating 
himself, presented them again, in a varied and more 
individualized and living form. Thus, Biron contains 
within him the germs both of Benedick and of Jaques ; 
of the one in his colloquial and mocking mood, and of 
the other in his graver moralities. Rosaline is (in 
Coleridge's phrase) ' the pre-existent state of Beatrice ;' 
though she is as yet a Beatrice of the imagination, 
drawn from books or report, rather than one painted 
from familiar acquaintance. 

" Both the characters and the dialogue are such as 
youthful talent might well invent, without much know- 
ledge of real life, and would indeed be likely to invent, 
before the experience and observation of varied society. 
The comedy presents a picture, not of the true every- 
day life of the great or the beautiful, but exhibits groups 
of such brilliant personages as they might be supposed 
to appear in the artificial conversation, the elaborate and 
continual effort to surprise or dazzle by wit or elegance, 
which was the prevailing taste of the age, in its litera- 
ture, its poetry, and even its pulpit ; and in which the 
nobles and beauties of the day were accustomed to array 
themselves for exhibition, as in their state attire, for 
occasions of display. All this, when the leading idea 



22 Love's Labour's Lost 

was once caught, was quite within the reach of the 
young poet to imitate or surpass, with little or no 
personal knowledge of aristocratic — or what would now 
be termed fashionable — society. English literature, a 
century later, afforded a striking example of the success 
of a very young author in carrying to its perfection a 
similar affectation of artificial wit, and studied conversa- 
tional brilliancy — I mean Congreve, whose comedies, 
the admiration of their own age, for their fertility of 
fantastically gay dialogue, bright conceits, and witty 
repartees, are still read for their abundance of lively 
imagery and play of language, the ' reciprocation of 
conceits and the clash of wit,' — although the personages 
of his scene, and all that they do and think, are wholly 
remote from the truth, the feeling, and the manners of 
real life. These productions, so remarkable in their 
way, were written before Congreve 's twenty-fifth year ; 
and his first and most brilliant comedy {The Old Bache- 
lor) was acted when he was yet a minor. His talent, 
thus early ripe, did not afterwards expand or refine 
itself into the nobler power of teaching ' the morals of 
the heart,' nor even into the delightful gift of embody- 
ing the passing scenes of real life in graphic and durable 
pictures. But his writings afford a memorable proof 
how soon the graces and brilliant effects of mere intel- 
lect can be acquired, while those works of genius which 
require the co-operation and the knowledge of man's 
moral nature are of slower and later growth. 

" This comedy, then, marks the transition of Shake- 



Introduction 23 

speare's mind through the Congreve character of inven- 
tion and dialogue ; that of lively and artificial brilliancy 
— a region in which he did not long loiter — 

" ' But stoop'd to truth, and moraliz'd his song.' 

" These remarks apply to the general contexture of the 
comedy, and the greater part of the dialogue. But it 
must not be overlooked that the whole is not the work 
of a mere boy. It had been played before Queen Eliza- 
beth, according to the title-page of the edition of 1598, 
'this last Christmas,' and had been 'newly corrected 
and augmented.' ... It does not imply any great 
presumption of criticism, or demand peculiar delicacy 
of discrimination, to separate many of the acknowledged 
additions from the lighter and less valuable materials in 
which they are inserted. Rosaline's character of Biron 
in the second act, and her dialogue with him at the wind- 
ing up of the drama, and Biron's speeches in the first 
and at the end of the fourth act, are among the passages 
which appropriate themselves at once to the period of 
the composition of the Merchant of Venice, not less in 
the mood of thought than in the peculiar poetic style 
and melody. 

" The story itself is but slight, the incidents few, and 
the higher characters, though varied, are but sketchily 
drawn — at least, taking the author's own maturer style 
of execution in that way as the standard. There was, 
therefore, no very great effort of original invention in 



24 Love's Labour 's Lost 

either respect ; but whatever there is, either of plot or 
character, belongs to the author alone : for the diligence 
of the critics and antiquarians who have been most suc- 
cessful in tracing out the rough materials of romance, 
tradition, or history used by Shakespeare for the con- 
struction of his dramas, has entirely failed in discover- 
ing any thing of the kind in any older author, native or 
foreign, to which he could have been indebted on this 
occasion. It is well worthy of remark that Shakespeare, 
in his earlier works, bestowed more of the labour of in- 
vention upon his plot and incidents than he generally 
did afterwards, when he usually selected known per- 
sonages, to whom and to the outline of whose story the 
popular mind was already somewhat familiar — thus, 
probably quite unconsciously, adopting from his own 
experience the usage of the great Greek dramatists. It 
may be that the impress of reality, which the circum- 
stance of familiar names and events lends to the drama, 
more than compensated for any pleasure that mere 
novelty of incident could give either to the author or 
his audience. But, in his characters of broad humour, 
Shakespeare is here, as he always is, original and in- 
ventive. Although the Pedant and the Braggart are 
characters familiar to the old Italian stage, yet if the 
dramatist derived the general notion of such person- 
ages, as fitted for stage effect, from any Italian source 
(for the presumption is but remote), still he assuredly 
painted them and their affectations from the life ; these 
being characters, as Coleridge justly observes, which 



Introduction 25 

I* a country town and a schoolboy's observation might 
supply.' ) 

" All the personages of broader humour, in spite of 
their extravagances and droll absurdities, have still an 
air of truth, a solidity of effect, which at once indicates 
that, however heightened and exaggerated, still they 
came upon the stage from the real world, and not from 
the author's fancy ; and this solidity and reality tend to 
give a more unreal and shadowy tone to the other and 
more courtly and poetic personages of the comedy. Such 
a remark can apply only to Shakespeare's very early 
dramatic works. The other comic creations of the sec- 
ond stage of the poet's career — Launcelot Gobbo, or 
Falstaff — do not command the temporary illusion of 
the stage more than the nobler personages with whom 
they are contrasted. Juliet is as true and real as her 
Nurse." 



LOVE'S LABOUR 'S LOST 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Ferdinand, King of Navarre. 

Biron, ) 

Longaville, > lords attending on the King. 

Dumain, ) 

Mercade f lords attenc K n g on tne Princess of France. 
Don Adriano de Armado, a fantastical Spaniard. 
Sir Nathaniel, a curate. 
Holofernes, a schoolmaster. 
Dull, a constable. 
Costard, a clown. 
Moth, page to Armado. 
A Forester. 

The Princess of France. 

Rosaline, J 

Maria, V ladies attending on the Princess. 

Katherine, ) 

Jaquenetta, a country wench. 

Lords, Attendants, etc. 

Scene: Navarre. 




"Thy Curious-knotted Garden" 



ACT I 

Scene I. The King of Navarre's Park 

Enter Ferdinand, King of Navarre, Biron, Longa- 
ville, and Dumain 



King. Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives, 
Live register'd upon our brazen tombs, 
And then grace us in the disgrace of death ; 
When, spite of cormorant devouring Time, 
The endeavour of this present breath may buy 
That honour which shall bate his scythe's keen edge 
And make us heirs of all eternity. 

29 



30 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act i 

Therefore, brave conquerors, — for so you are 

That war against your own affections 

And the huge army of the world's desires, — 10 

Our late edict shall strongly stand in force. 

Navarre shall be the wonder of the world ; 

Our court shall be a little Academe, 

Still and contemplative in living art. 

You three, Biron, Dumain, and Longaville, 

Have sworn for three years' term to live with me 

My fellow-scholars, and to keep those statutes 

That are recorded in this schedule here. 

Your oaths are pass'd ; and now subscribe your 

names, 
That his own hand may strike his honour down 20 

That violates the smallest branch herein. 
If you are arm'd to do as sworn to do, 
Subscribe to your deep oaths, and keep it too. 

Longaville. I am resolv'd ; 't is but a three years' 
fast. 
The mind shall banquet, though the body pine. 
Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits 
Make rich the ribs but bankrupt quite the wits. 

Dumain. My loving lord, Dumain is mortified ; 
The grosser manner of these world's delights 
He throws upon the gross world's baser slaves. 30 

To love, to wealth, to pomp, I pine and die, 
With all these living in philosophy. 

Biron. I can but say their protestation over; 
So much, dear liege, I have already sworn, 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 3 1 

That is, to live and study here three years. 

But there are other strict observances ; 

As, not to see a woman in that term, 

Which I hope well is not enrolled there ; 

And one day in a week to touch no food, 

And but one meal on every day beside, 40 

The which I hope is not enrolled there ; 

And then, to sleep but three hours in the night, 

And not be seen to wink of all the day — 

When I was wont to think no harm all night, 

And make a dark night too of half the day, — 

Which I hope well is not enrolled there. 

O, these are barren tasks, too hard to keep, 

Not to see ladies, study, fast, not sleep ! 

King. Your oath is pass'd to pass away from 
these. 

Biron. Let me say no, my liege, an if you please ; 50 
I only swore to study with your grace, 
And stay here in your court for three years' space. 

Longaville. You swore to that, Biron, and to the 
rest. 

Biron. By yea and nay, sir, then I swore in jest. 
What is the end of study? let me know. 

King. Why, that to know which else we should not 
know. 

Biron. Things hid and barr'd, you mean, from com- 
mon sense ? 

King. Ay, that is study's godlike recompense. 

Biron. Come on, then ; I will swear to study so 



32 Love's Labour's Lost [Act I 

To know the thing I am forbid to know : 60 

As thus, — to study where I well may dine, 

When I to feast expressly am forbid ; 
Or study where to meet some mistress fine, 

When mistresses from common sense are hid ; 
Or, having sworn too hard a keeping oath, 
Study to break it and not break my troth. 
If study's gain be thus, and this be so, 
Study knows that which yet it doth not know. 
Swear me to this, and I will ne'er say no. 

King. These be the stops that hinder study quite, 70 
And train our intellects to vain delight. 

Biron. Why, all delights are vain, and that most vain 
Which with pain purchas'd doth inherit pain ; 
As, painfully to pore upon a book 

To seek the light of truth, while truth the while 
Doth falsely blind the eyesight of his look. 

Light seeking light doth light of light beguile ; 
So, ere you find where light in darkness lies, 
Your light grows dark by losing of your eyes. 
Study me how to please the eye indeed 80 

By fixing it upon a fairer eye, 
Who dazzling so, that eye shall be his heed 

And give him light that it was blinded by. 
Study is like the heaven's glorious sun, 

That will not be deep-search 'd with saucy looks ; 
Small have continual plodders ever won 

Save base authority from others' books. 
These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights, 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 33 

That give a name to every fixed star, 
Have no more profit of their shining nights 90 

Than those that walk and wot not what they are. 
Too much to know is to know nought but fame ; 
And every godfather can give a name. 

King. How well he 's read, to reason against reading ! 

Dumain. Proceeded well, to stop all good proceeding ! 

Longaville. He weeds the corn and still lets grow the 
weeding. 

Biron. The spring is near when green geese are a- 
breeding. 

Dumain. How follows that ? 

Biron. Fit in his place and time. 

Dumain. In reason nothing. 

Biron. Something then in rhyme. 

King. Biron is like an envious sneaping frost 100 

That bites the first-born infants of the spring. 

Biron. Well, say I am ; why should proud summer 
boast 

Before the birds have any cause to sing ? 
Why should I joy in an abortive birth ? 

At Christmas I no more desire a rose 
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled shows, 

But like of each thing that in season grows. 
So you, to study now it is too late, 
Climb o'er the house to unlock the little gate. 

King. Well, sit you out. Go home, Biron ; adieu ! 

Biron. No, my good lord, I have sworn to stay with 
you; in 

love's labour — 3 



34 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act I 

And though I have for barbarism spoke more 

Than for that angel knowledge you can say, 
Yet confident I '11 keep what I have swore, 

And bide the penance of each three years' day. 
Give me the paper ; let me read the same, 
And to the strict'st decrees I '11 write my name. 

King. How well this yielding rescues thee from 
shame ! 

Biron. [Reads] ' Item, That no woman shall come 
within a mile of my court — ' Hath this been pro- 
claimed ? 121 

Longaville. Four days ago. 

Biron. Let 's see the penalty. [Reads] ' On pain 
of losing her tongue.'' — Who devised this penalty? 

Longaville. Marry, that did I. 

Biron. Sweet lord, and why ? 

Longaville. To fright them hence with that dread 
penalty. 

Biron. A dangerous law against gentility ! 

[Reads] ''Item, If any man be seen to talk with a 
woman within the term of three years, he shall endure 
such public shame as the rest of the court ca?i possibly 
devise, ,' 132 

This article, my liege, yourself must break ; 

For well you know here comes in embassy 
The French Ring's daughter with yourself to speak — 

A maid of grace and complete majesty — 
About surrender up of Aquitaine 

To her decrepit, sick, and bedrid father. 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 35 

Therefore this article is made in vain, 

Or vainly comes the admired princess hither. 140 

King. What say you, lords ? why, this was quite 
forgot. 

Biron. So study evermore is overshot. 
While it doth study to have what it would, 
It doth forget to do the thing it should ; 
And when it hath the thing it hunteth most, 
'T is won as towns with fire, so won, so lost. 

King. We must of force dispense with this decree ; 
She must lie here on mere necessity. 

Biron. Necessity will make us all forsworn 

Three thousand times within this three years' space ; 
For every man with his affects is born, 151 

Not by might master'd, but by special grace. 
If I break faith, this word shall speak for me : 
I am forsworn on mere necessity. — 
So to the laws at large I write my name ; {Subscribes. 

And he that breaks them in the least degree 
Stands in attainder of eternal shame. 

Suggestions are to others as to me ; 
But I believe, although I seem so loath, 
I am the last that will last keep his oath. 160 

But is there no quick recreation granted ? 

King. Ay, that there is. Our court, you know, is 
haunted 

With a refined traveller of Spain ; 
A man in all the world's new fashion planted, 

That hath a mint of phrases in his brain ; 



36 Love's Labour's Lost [Act I 

One whom the music of his own vain tongue 

Doth ravish like enchanting harmony ; 
A man of complements, whom right and wrong 

Have chose as umpire of their mutiny. 
This child of fancy, that Armado hight, 170 

For interim to our studies shall relate 
In high-born words the worth of many a knight 

From tawny Spain lost in the world's debate. 
How you delight, my lords, I know not, I, 
But, I protest, I love to hear him lie, 
And I will use him for my minstrelsy. 

Biron. Armado is a most illustrious wight, 
A man of fire-new words, fashion's own knight. 

Longaville. Costard the swain and he shall be our 
sport ; 
And so to study, three years is but short. 180 

Enter Dull with a letter, and Costard 

Dull. Which is the duke's own person ? 

Biron. This, fellow ; what wouldst ? 

Dull. I myself reprehend his own person, for I 
am his grace's tharborough ; but I would see his own 
person in flesh and blood. 

Biron. This is he. 

Dull. Signior Arme — Arme — commends you. 
There 's villany abroad ; this letter will tell you 
more. 

Costard. Sir, the contempts thereof are as touch- 
ing me. 191 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 37 

King. A letter from the magnificent Armado. 

Biron. How low soever the matter, I hope in God 
for high words. 

Longaville. A high hope for a low having ; God 
grant us patience ! 

Biron. To hear ? or forbear laughing ? 

Longaville. To hear meekly, sir, and to laugh 
moderately ; or to forbear both. 

Biron. Well, sir, be it as the style shall give us 
cause to climb in the merriness. 201 

Costard. The matter is to me, sir, as concern- 
ing Jaquenetta. The manner of it is, I was taken 
with the manner. 

Biron. In what manner ? 

Costard. In manner and form following, sir ; all 
those three : I was seen with her in the manor- 
house, sitting with her upon the form, and taken 
following her into the park, which, put together, is 
in manner and form following. Now, sir, for the 
manner, — it is the manner of a man to speak to a 
woman ; for the form, — in some form. 212 

Biron. For the following, sir ? 

Costard. As it shall follow in my correction ; and 
God defend the right ! 

King. Will you hear this letter with attention ? 

Biron. As we would hear an oracle. 

Costard. Such is the simplicity of man to hearken 
after the flesh. 

King. [Reads] ' G?'eat deputy, the welkin's vicege- 



38 Love's Labour's Lost [Act 1 

rent and sole dominator of Navarre, my souVs earth's 
god, and bodfs fostering patron? 222 

Costard. Not a word of Costard yet. 

King. [Reads] ' So it is,' — 

Costard. It may be so ; but if he say it is so, he 
is, in telling true, but so. 

King. Peace ! 

Costard. Be to me, and every man that dares not 
fight ! 

King. No words ! 230 

Costard. Of other men's secrets, I beseech you. 

King. [Reads] ' So it is, besieged 'with sable- coloured 
melancholy, I did coinmend the black-oppressing humour 
to the most wholesome physic of thy health-giving air, 
and, as I am a gentleman, betook myself to walk. The 
time when ? About the sixth hour, when beasts most 
graze, birds best peck, and men sit down to that nour- 
ishme?it which is called supper ; so much for the time 
when. Now for the ground which, — which, I mean, 
I walked upon ; it is ycleped thy park. Then for the 240 
place where, — where, I mean, I did encounter that 
obscene and most preposterous event that draweth from 
my snow-white pen the ebon-coloured ink, which here 
thou viewest, beholdest, survey est, or sees t ; — but to the 
place where ; it standeth north-north-east and by east 
from the west corner of thy curious-knotted garden. 
There did I see that low-spirited swain, that base min- 
now of thy mirth] — 

Costard. Me. 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 39 

King. [Reads] ' that unlettered small-knowing 
soul, 7 — 251 

Costard. Me. 

King. [Reads] ' that shallow vassal? — 

Costard. Still me. 

King. [Reads] ( which, as J remember, hight Cos- 
tard? — 

Costard. O, me ! 

King. [Reads] ' sorted and consorted, contrary to 
thy established proclaimed edict and contiiient canon, 
with — with — O, with — but with this I passion to 
say wherewith? — 

Costard. With a wench. 262 

King. [Reads] ' with a child of our grandmother 
Eve, a female ; or, for thy more sweet understanding, a 
woman. Him I, as my ever-esteemed duty pricks me 
on, have sent to thee, to receive the meed of punishment, 
by thy sweet grace's officer, Anthony Dull, a man of 
good repute, carriage, bearing, and estimation.' 

Dull. Me, an 't shall please you ; I am Anthony 
Dull. 270 

King. [Reads] ' For Jaquenetta, — so is the weaker 
vessel called which I apprehended with the aforesaid 
swain, — I keep her as a vessel of thy law's fury, and 
shall, at the least of thy sweet notice, bring her to trial. 
Thine, in all compliments of devoted and heart-burning 
heat of duty, Don Adriano de Armado.' 

Biron. This is not so well as I looked for, but the 
best that ever I heard. 



40 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act I 

King. Ay, the best for the worst. — But, sirrah, 
what say you to this ? 2S0 

Costard. Sir, I confess the wench. 

King. Did you hear the proclamation ? 

Costard. I do confess much of the hearing it, but 
little of the marking of it. 

King. It was proclaimed a year's imprisonment, to 
be taken with a wench. 

Costard. I was taken with none, sir ; I was taken 
with a damosel. 

King. Well, it was proclaimed damosel. 

Costard. This was no damosel neither, sir ; she 
was a virgin. 291 

King. It is so varied too ; for it was proclaimed 
virgin. 

Costard. If it were, I deny her virginity ; I was 
taken with a maid. 

King. This maid will not serve your turn, sir. 

Costard. This maid will serve my turn, sir. ■" 

King. Sir, I will pronounce your sentence : you 
shall fast a week with bran and water. 

Costard. I had rather pray a month with mutton 
and porridge. 301 

King. And Don Armado shall be your keeper. — 
My Lord Biron, see him deliver'd o'er ; — 
And go we, lords, to put in practice that 

Which each to other hath so strongly sworn. 

[Exeunt King, Longaville, and Dumain. 

Biron. I '11 lay my head to any good man's hat, 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 41 

These oaths and laws will prove an idle scorn. — 
Sirrah, come on. 

Costard. I suffer for the truth, sir, for true it is, 
I was taken with Jaquenetta, and Jaquenetta is a 
true girl ; and therefore welcome the sour cup of 
prosperity ! Affliction may one day smile again ; 
and till then, sit thee down, Sorrow ! [Exeunt. 

Scene II. Another Part of the Park 
Enter Armado and Moth 

Armado. Boy, what sign is it when a man of great 
spirit grows melancholy ? 

Moth. A great sign, sir, that he will look sad. 

Armado. Why, sadness is one and the selfsame 
thing, dear imp. 

Moth. No, no ; O Lord, sir, no ! 

Armado. How canst thou part sadness and mel- 
ancholy, my tender juvenal ? 

Moth. By a familiar demonstration of the work- 
ing, my tough senior. 10 

Armado. Why tough senior ? why tough senior ? 

Moth. Why tender juvenal ? why tender juvenal ? 

Armado. I spoke it, tender juvenal, as a congru- 
ent epitheton appertaining to thy young days, which 
we may nominate tender. 

Moth. And I, tough senior, as an appertinent 
title to your old time, which we may name tough. 

Armado. Pretty and apt. 



42 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act I 

Moth. How mean you, sir? I pretty, and my 
saying apt ? or I apt, and my saying pretty ? 20 

Armado. Thou pretty, because little. 

Moth. Little pretty, because little. Wherefore apt ? 

Armado. And therefore apt, because quick. 

Moth. Speak you this in my praise, master ? 

Armado. In thy condign praise. 

Moth. I will praise an eel with the same praise. 

Armado. What, that an eel is ingenious ? 

Moth. That an eel is quick. 

Armado. I do say thou art quick in answers ; thou 
heatest my blood. 30 

Moth. I am answered, sir. 

Armado. I love not to be crossed. 

Moth. [Aside] He speaks the mere contrary ; 
crosses love not him. 

Armado. I have promised to study three years 
with the duke. 

Moth. You may do it in an hour, sir. 

Armado. Impossible. 

Moth. How many is one thrice told ? 

Armado. I am ill at reckoning ; it fitteth the spirit 
of a tapster. 41 

Moth. You are a gentleman and a gamester, sir. 

Armado. I confess both ; they are both the varnish 
of a complete man. 

Moth. Then, I am sure, you know how much the 
gross sum of deuce-ace amounts to. 

Armado. It doth amount to one more than two. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 43 

Moth. Which the base vulgar do call three. 

Armado. True. 49 

Moth. Why, sir, is this such a piece of study? 
Now here is three studied, ere you '11 thrice wink ; 
and how easy it is to put years to the word three, 
and study three years in two words, the dancing 
horse will tell you. 

Armado. A most fine figure I 

Moth. \Aside\ To prove you a cipher. 

Armado. I will hereupon confess I am in love ; 
and as it is base for a soldier to love, so am I in love 
with a base wench. If drawing my sword against 
the humour of affection would deliver me from the 
reprobate thought of it, I would take desire pris- 
oner, and ransom him to any French courtier for a 
new-devised courtesy. I think scorn to sigh ; me- 
thinks I could outswear Cupid. Comfort me, boy. 
What great men have been in love ? 65 

Moth. Hercules, master. 

Armado. Most sweet Hercules! — More authority, 
dear boy, name more ; and, sweet my child, let them 
be men of good repute and carriage. 

Moth. Samson, master ; he was a man of good 
carriage, great carriage, for he carried the town- 
gates on his back like a porter, and he was in love. 72 

Armado. O well-knit Samson ! strong-jointed 
Samson ! I do excel thee in my rapier as much as 
thou didst me in carrying gates. I am in love 
too. — Who was Samson's love, my dear Moth ? 



44 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act i 

Moth. A woman, master. 

Ar??iado. Of what complexion ? 

Moth. Of all the four, or the three, or the two, or 
one of the four. 80 

A?-viado. Tell me precisely of what complexion. 

Moth. Of the sea- water green, sir. 

Armado. Is that one of the four complexions ? 

Moth. As I have read, sir ; and the best of them 
too. 

Armado. Green indeed is the colour of lovers ; 
but to have a love of that colour, methinks Samson 
had small reason for it. He surely affected her for 
her wit. 

Moth. It was so, sir ; for she had a green wit. 90 

Armado. My love is most immaculate white and 
red. 

Moth. Most maculate thoughts, master, are masked 
under such colours. 

Armado. Define, define, well-educated infant. 

Moth. My father's wit and my mother's tongue, 
assist me ! 

Armado. Sweet invocation of a child ; most pretty 
and pathetical ! 

Moth. If she be made of white and red, 100 

Her faults will ne'er be known, 
For blushing cheeks by faults are bred 

And fears by pale white shown ; 
Then if she fear, or be to blame, 
By this you shall not know, 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 45 

For still her cheeks possess the same 
Which native she doth owe. 
A dangerous rhyme, master, against the reason of 
white and red. 

Armado. Is there not a ballad, boy, of the King 
and the Beggar? m 

Moth. The world was very guilty of such a ballad 
some three ages since, but I think now 't is not to be 
found ; or, if it were, it would neither serve for the 
writing nor the tune. 

Armado. I will have that subject newly writ o'er, 
that I may example my digression by some mighty 
precedent. Boy, I do love that country girl that I 
took in the park with the rational hind Costard ; she 
deserves well. 120 

Moth. [Aside] To be whipped, — and yet a better 
love than my master. 

Armado. Sing, boy ; my spirit grows heavy in love. 

Moth. And that 's great marvel, loving a light 
wench. 

Armado. I say, sing. 

Moth. Forbear till this company be past. 

Enter Dull, Costard, and Jaquenetta 

Dull. Sir, the duke's pleasure is, that you keep 
Costard safe ; and you must let him take no delight 
nor no penance, but he must fast three days a week. 
For this damsel, I must keep her at the park ; she is 
allowed for the day-woman. Fare you well. 132 



46 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act 1 

Armado. I do betray myself with blushing. — Maid ! 

Jaquenetta. Man ! 

Armado. I will visit thee at the lodge. 

Jaquenetta. That 's hereby. 

Armado. I know where it is situate. 

Jaquenetta. Lord, how wise you are ! 

Armado. I will tell thee wonders. 

Jaquenetta. With that face ? 140 

Armado. I love thee. 

Jaquenetta. So I heard you say. 

Armado. And so, farewell. 

Jaquenetta. Fair weather after you ! 

Dull. Come, Jaquenetta, away ! 

[Exeunt Dull and Jaquenetta. 

Armado. Villain, thou shalt fast for thy offences 
ere thou be pardoned. 

Costard. Well, sir, I hope, when I do it, I shall do 
it on a full stomach. 

Armado. Thou shalt be heavily punished. 150 

Costard. I am more bound to you than your fel- 
lows, for they are but lightly rewarded. 

Armado. Take away this villain ; shut him up. 

Moth. Come, you transgressing slave ; away ! 

Costard. Let me not be pent up, sir ; I will fast, 
being loose. 

Moth. No, sir ; that were fast and loose : thou 
shalt to prison. 

Costard. Well, if ever I do see the merry days of 
desolation that I have seen, some shall see — 160 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 47 

Moth. What shall some see ? 

Costard. Nay, nothing, Master Moth, but what 
they look upon. It is not for prisoners to be too 
silent in their words, and therefore I will say noth- 
ing. I thank God I have as little patience as another 
man, and therefore I can be quiet. 

[Exeunt Moth and Costard. 

Armado. I do affect the very ground, which is 
base, where her shoe, which is baser, guided by her 
foot, which is basest, doth tread. I shall be for- 
sworn, which is a great argument of falsehood, if 1 170 
love. And how can that be true love which is 
falsely attempted ? Love is a familiar ; Love is a 
devil ; there is no evil angel but Love. Yet was 
Samson so tempted, and he had an excellent strength; 
yet was Solomon so seduced, and he had a very good 
wit. Cupid's butt-shaft is too hard for Hercules' 
club, and therefore too much odds for a Spaniard's 
rapier. The first and second cause will not serve 
my turn ; the passado he respects not, the duello he 
regards not. His disgrace is to be called boy, but 180 
his glory is to subdue men. Adieu, valour! rust, 
rapier ! be still, drum ! for your manager is in love ; 
yea, he loveth. Assist me, some extemporal god of 
rhyme, for I am sure I shall turn sonnet. Devise, 
wit ! write, pen ! for I am for whole volumes in folio. 

\Exit 



&&£%£% 




&?%$j^y* 



In the Park 



ACT II 

Scene I. The Park. A Pavilion and Tents at a Dis- 
tance 

Enter the Princess of France, Rosaline, Maria, 
Katherine, Boyet, Lords, and other Attendants 

Boyet. Now, madam, summon up your dearest spirits. 
Consider who the king your father sends, 
To whom he sends, and what 's his embassy : 
Yourself, held precious in the world's esteem, 
To parley with the sole inheritor 
Of all perfections that a man may owe, 
Matchless Navarre ; the plea of no less weight 
Than Aquitaine, a dowry for a queen. 
Be now as prodigal of all dear grace 

48 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 49 

As Nature was in making graces dear 10 

When she did starve the general world beside 
And prodigally gave them all to you. 

Princess. Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but 
mean, 
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise ; 
Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye, 
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues. 
I am less proud to hear you tell my worth 
Than you much willing to be counted wise 
In spending your wit in the praise of mine. 
But now to task the tasker : good Boyet, 20 

You are not ignorant, all-telling fame 
Doth noise abroad, Navarre hath made a vow, 
Till painful study shall outwear three years, 
No woman may approach his silent court. 
Therefore to 's seemeth it a needful course, 
Before we enter his forbidden gates, 
To know his pleasure ; and in that behalf, 
Bold of your worthiness, we single you 
As our best-moving fair solicitor. 

Tell him the daughter of the King of France, 30 

On serious business, craving quick dispatch, 
Importunes personal conference with his grace. 
Haste, signify so much, while we attend, 
Like humble-visag'd suitors, his high will. 

Boyet. Proud of employment, willingly I go. 

Princess. All pride is willing pride, and yours is so. — 

[Exit Boyet. 
love's labour — 4 



50 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act n 

Who are the votaries, my loving lords, 

That are vow-fellows with this virtuous duke ? 

i Lord. Lord Longaville is one. 

Princess. Know you the man ? 

Maria. I know him, madam ; at a marriage-feast, 40 
Between Lord Perigort and the beauteous heir 
Of Jaques Falconbridge, solemnized 
In Normandy, saw I this Longaville. 
A man of sovereign parts he is esteem 'd, 
Well fitted in the arts, glorious in arms ; 
Nothing becomes him ill that he would well. 
The only soil of his fair virtue's gloss — 
If virtue's gloss will stain with any soil — 
Is a sharp wit match 'd with too blunt a will, 
Whose edge hath power to cut, whose will still wills 50 
It should none spare that come within his power. 

Princess. Some merry mocking lord, belike ; is 't so ? 

Mai-ia. They say so most that most his humours 
know. 

Princess. Such short-liv'd wits do wither as they 
grow. 
Who are the rest ? 

Katherine. The young Dumain, a well-accomplish 'd 
youth, 
Of all that virtue love for virtue lov'd ; 
Most power to do most harm, least knowing ill, 
For he hath wit to make an ill shape good, 
And shape to win grace though he had no wit. • 60 
I saw him at the Duke Alencon's once ; 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 5 1 

And much too little of that good I saw 
Is my report to his great worthiness. 

Rosaline. Another of these students at that time 
Was there with him, if I have heard a truth. 
Biron they call him ; but a merrier man, 
Within the limit of becoming mirth, 
I never spent an hour's talk withal. 
His eye begets occasion for his wit ; 
For every object that the one doth catch 70 

The other turns to a mirth-moving jest, 
Which his fair tongue, conceit's expositor, 
Delivers in such apt and gracious words 
That aged ears play truant at his tales 
And younger hearings are quite ravished, 
So sweet and voluble is his discourse. 

Princess. God bless my ladies ! are they all in love, 
That every one her own hath garnished 
With such bedecking ornaments of praise ? 

1 Lord. Here comes Boyet. 

Re-enter Boyet 

Princess. Now, what admittance, lord ? 

Boyet. Navarre had notice of your fair approach, 81 
And he and his competitors in oath 
Were all address'd to meet you, gentle lady, 
Before I came. Marry, thus much I have learnt : 
He rather means to lodge you in the field, 
Like one that comes here to besiege his court, 
Than seek a dispensation for his oath, 



52 Love's Labour's Lost [Act n 

To let you enter his unpeopled house. — 
Here comes Navarre. 

Enter King, Longaville, Dumain, Biron, and 

Attendants 

King. Fair princess, welcome to the court of Navarre. 90 

Princess. Fair I give you back again, and welcome 
I have not yet ; the roof of this court is too high to 
be yours, and welcome to the wide fields too base to 
be mine. 

King. You shall be welcome, madam, to my court. 

Princess. I will be welcome, then ; conduct me 
thither. 

King. Hear me, dear lady ; I have sworn an oath. 

Princess. Our Lady help my lord ! he '11 be forsworn. 

King. Not for the world, fair madam, by my will. 

Princess. Why, will shall break it, will and nothing 
else. 100 

King. Your ladyship is ignorant what it is. 

Princess. Were my lord so, his ignorance were wise, 
Where now his knowledge must prove ignorance. 
I hear your grace hath sworn out house-keeping ; 
'T is deadly sin to keep that oath, my lord, 
And sin to break it. 
But pardon me, I am too sudden-bold ; 
To teach a teacher ill beseemeth me. 
Vouchsafe to read the purpose of my coming, 
And suddenly resolve me in my suit. no 

King. Madam, I will, if suddenly I may. 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 53 

Princess. You will the sooner that I were away, 
For you '11 prove perjur'd if you make me stay. 

Biron. Did not I dance with you in Brabant once ? 

Rosaline. Did not I dance with you in Brabant once ? 

Biron. I know you did. 

Rosaline. How needless was it then to ask the ques- 
tion ! 

Biron. You must not be so quick. 

Rosaline. 'T is long of you that spur me with such 
questions. 

Biron. Your wit 's too hot, it speeds too fast, 't will 
tire. 120 

Rosaline. Not till it leave the rider in the mire. 

Biron. What time o' day ? 

Rosaline. The hour that fools should ask. 

Biron. Now fair befall your mask ! 

Rosaline. Fair fall the face it covers ! 

Biron. And send you many lovers ! 

Rosaline. Amen, so you be none. 

Biron. Nay, then will I be gone. 

King. Madam, your father here doth intimate 
The payment of a hundred thousand crowns ; 130 

Being but the one half of an entire sum 
Disbursed by my father in his wars. 
But say that he or we, as neither have, 
Receiv'd that sum, yet there remains unpaid 
A hundred thousand more, in surety of the which 
One part of Aquitaine is bound to us, 
Although not valued to the money's worth. 



54 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act n 

If then the king your father will restore 

But that one half which is unsatisfied, 

We will give up our right in Aquitaine, 140 

And hold fair friendship with his majesty. 

But that, it seems, he little purposeth, 

For here he doth demand to have repaid 

A hundred thousand crowns ; and not demands, 

On payment of a hundred thousand crowns, 

To have his title live in Aquitaine, 

Which we much rather had depart withal, 

And have the money by our father lent, 

Than Aquitaine so gelded as it is. 

Dear princess, were not his requests so far 150 

From reason's yielding, your fair self should make 

A yielding 'gainst some reason in my breast, 

And go well satisfied to France again. 

Princess. You do the king my father too much wrong, 
And wrong the reputation of your name, 
In so unseeming to confess receipt 
Of that which hath so faithfully been paid. 

King. I do protest I never heard of it ; 
And if you prove it, I '11 repay it back 
Or yield up Aquitaine. 

Princess. We arrest your word. — 160 

Boyet, you can produce acquittances 
For such a sum from special officers 
Of Charles his father. 

King. Satisfy me so. 

Boyet. So please your grace, the packet is not come 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 55 

Where that and other specialties are bound ; 
To-morrow you shall have a sight of them. 

King. It shall suffice me ; at which interview 
All liberal reason I will yield unto. 
Meantime receive such welcome at my hand 
As honour without breach of honour may 170 

Make tender of to thy true worthiness. 
You may not come, fair princess, in my gates ; 
But here without you shall be so receiv'd 
As you shall deem yourself lodg'd in my heart, 
Though so denied fair harbour in my house. 
Your own good thoughts excuse me, and farewell ; 
To-morrow shall we visit you again. 

Princess. Sweet health and fair desires consort your 
grace ! 

King. Thy own wish wish I thee in every place ! 

[Exit. 

Biron. Lady, I will commend you to mine own 
heart. 180 

Rosaline. Pray you, do my commendations ; I 
would be glad to see it. 

Biron. I would you heard it groan. 

Rosaline. Is the fool sick ? 

Biron. Sick at the heart. 

Rosaline. Alack, let it blood. 

Biron. Would that do it good ? 

Rosaline. My physic says ay. 

Biron. Will you prick 't with your eye ? 

Rosaline. No point, with my knife. 190 



56 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act 11 

Biron. Now, God save thy life ! 

Rosaline. And yours from long living ! 

Biron. I cannot stay thanksgiving. [Retiring. 

Dumain. Sir, I pray you, a word : what lady is 

that same ? 
Boyet. The heir of Alencon, Katherine her name. 
Dumain. A gallant lady. Monsieur, fare you well. 

[Exit. 
Longaville. I beseech you a word : what is she in 

the white ? 
Boyet. A woman sometimes, an you saw her in 

the light. 
Longaville. Perchance light in the light. I desire 

her name. 
Boyet. She hath but one for herself ; to desire that 
were a shame. 200 

Longaville. Pray you, sir, whose daughter ? 
Boyet. Her mother's, I have heard. 
Longaville. God's blessing on your beard ! 
Boyet. Good sir, be not offended. 
She is an heir of Falconbridge. 

Longaville. Nay, my choler is ended. 
She is a most sweet lady. 

Boyet. Not unlike, sir, that may be. 

[Exit Longaville. 
Biron. What 's her name in the cap ? 
Boyet. Rosaline, by good hap. 210 

Biron. Is she wedded or no ? 
Boyet. To her will, sir, or so. 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 57 

Biron. You are welcome, sir ; adieu. 

Boyet. Farewell to me, sir, and welcome to you. 

[Exit Biron. 

Maria. That last is Biron, the merry mad-cap lord ; 
Not a word with him but a jest. 

Boyet. And every jest but a word. 

Princess. It was well done of you to take him at his 
word. 

Boyet. I was as willing to grapple as he was to board. 

Maria. Two hot sheeps, marry. 

Boyet. And wherefore not ships ? 

No sheep, sweet lamb, unless we feed on your lips. 220 

Maria. You sheep, and I pasture ; shall that finish 
the jest ? 

Boyet. So you grant pasture for me. 

[ Offering to kiss her. 

Maria. Not so, gentle beast ; 

My lips are no common, though several they be. 

Boyet. Belonging to whom ? 

Maria. To my fortunes and me. 

Princess. Good wits will be jangling; but, gentles, 
agree. 
This civil war of wits were much better us'd 
On Navarre and his book-men, for here 't is abus'd. 

Boyet. If my observation, which very seldom lies, 
By the heart's still rhetoric disclosed with eyes, 
Deceive me not now, Navarre is infected. 230 

Princess. With what ? 

Boyet. With that which we lovers entitle affected. 



58 Love's Labour's Lost [Act 11 

Princess. Your reason ? 

Boyet. Why, all his behaviours did make their retire 
To the court of his eye, peeping thorough desire ; 
His heart, like an agate, with your print impress'd, 
Proud with his form, in his eye pride express 'd ; 
His tongue, all impatient to speak and not see, 
Did stumble with haste in his eyesight to be ; 
All senses to that sense did make their repair, 240 

To feel only looking on fairest of fair. 
Methought all his senses were lock'd in his eye, 
As jewels in crystal for some prince to buy, 
Who, tendering their own worth from where they were 

glass'd, 
Did point you to buy them, along as you pass'd. 
His face's own margent did quote such amazes 
That all eyes saw his eyes enchanted with gazes. 
I '11 give you Aquitaine and all that is his, 
An you give him for my sake but one loving kiss. 

Princess. Come to our pavilion ; Boyet is dispos'd. 250 

Boyet. But to speak that in words which his eye hath 
disclos'd. 
I only have made a mouth of his eye 
By adding a tongue which I know will not lie. 

Rosaline. Thou art an old love-monger and speakest 
skilfully. 

Maria. He is Cupid's grandfather and learns news 
of him. 

Rosaline, Then was Venus like her mother, for her 
father is but grim. 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 59 

Boyet. Do you hear, my mad wenches ? 
Maria. No. 

Boyet. What then, do you see ? 

Rosaline. Ay, our way to be gone. 
Boyet. You are too hard for me. 

[Exeunt. 




.4 ~~^.^/., .•VJ.J*"' 



Biron and Costard 



ACT III 

Scene I. The Park 

Enter Armado and Moth 

Armado. Warble, child ; make passionate my 
sense of hearing. 

Moth sings. — Concolinel 

Armado. Sweet air ! — Go, tenderness of years ; 
take this key, give enlargement to the swain, bring 
him festinately hither. I must employ him in a letter 
to my love. 

Moth. Master, will you win your love with a 
French brawl ? 

Armado. How meanest thou ? brawling in French ? 

Moth. No, my complete master ; but to jig off a 
tune at the tongue's end, canary to it with your feet, 

60 



Scene i] Love's Labour's Lost 61 

humour it with turning up your eye, sigh a note and 
sing a note, sometime through the throat, as if you 
swallowed love with singing love, sometime through 
the nose, as if you snuffed up love by smelling love ; 
with your hat penthouse-like o'er the shop of your 
eyes ; with your arms crossed on your thin-belly 
doublet like a rabbit on a spit, or your hands in 
your pocket like a man after the old painting ; and 
keep not too long in one tune, but a snip and away. 20 
These are complements, these are humours ; these 
betray nice wenches, that would be betrayed without 
these, and make them men of note — do you note 
me ? — that most are affected to these. 24 

Armado. How hast thou purchased this experi- 
ence ? 

Moth. By my penny of observation. 

Armado. But O, — but O, — 

Moth. The hobby-horse is forgot. 

Armado. Callest thou my love hobby-horse ? 30 

Moth. No, master ; the hobby-horse is but a colt, 
and your love perhaps a hackney. But have you 
forgot your love ? 

Armado. Almost I had. 

Moth. Negligent student ! learn her by heart. 

Armado. By heart and in heart, boy. 

Moth. And out of heart, master ; all those three I 
will prove. 

Armado. What wilt thou prove ? 39 

Moth. A man, if I live ; and this, by, in, and with- 



61 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act in 

out, upon the instant. By heart you love her, be- 
cause your heart cannot come by her ; in heart you 
love her, because your heart is in love with her ; and 
out of heart you love her, being out of heart that you 
cannot enjoy her. 

Artnado. I am all these three. 

Moth. And three times as much more, and yet 
nothing at all. 

Armado. Fetch hither the swain ; he must carry 
me a letter. 50 

Moth. A message well sympathized ; a horse to 
be ambassador for an ass. 

Armado. Ha, ha ! what sayest thou ? 

Moth. Marry, sir, you must send the ass upon the 
horse, for he is very slow-gaited. But I go. 

Armado. The way is but short ; away ! 

Moth. As swift as lead, sir. 

Armado. Thy meaning, pretty ingenious ? 
Is not lead a metal heavy, dull, and slow ? 59 

Moth. Minime, honest master ; or rather, master, no. 

Armado. I say lead is slow. 

Moth. You are too swift, sir, to say so ; 

Is that lead slow which is fir'd from a gun ? 

Armado. Sweet smoke of rhetoric ! 
He reputes me a cannon ; and the bullet, that 's he. — 
I shoot thee at the swain. 

Moth. Thump then, and I flee. [Exit. 

Armado. A most acute juvenal, voluble and free of 
grace 1 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 63 

By thy favour, sweet welkin, I must sigh in thy 

face. — 
Most rude melancholy, valour gives thee place. — 
My herald is return 'd. 

Re-enter Moth with Costard 

Moth. A wonder, master ! here 's a costard broken 

in a shin. 70 

Armado. Some enigma, some riddle. Come, thy 

l'envoy; begin. 
Costard. No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy ; no 
salve in them all, sir. O, sir, plantain, a plain 
plantain ! no l'envoy, no l'envoy ; no salve, sir, 
but a plantain ! 

Armado. By virtue, thou enforcest laughter ; thy 
silly thought my spleen ; the heaving of my lungs 
provokes me to ridiculous smiling. — O, pardon me, 
my stars ! Doth the inconsiderate take salve for 
l'envoy, and the word l'envoy for a salve ? 80 

Moth. Do the wise think them other ? is not 
l'envoy a salve ? 

Armado. No, page ; it is an epilogue or discourse, to 
make plain 
Some obscure precedence that hath tofore been sain. 
I will example it: 

The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee, 
Were still at odds, being but three. 
There 's the moral. Now the l'envoy. 

Moth. I will add the l'envoy. Say the moral again. 



64 Love's Labour *s Lost [Act in 

Armado. The fox, the ape, the humble-bee, 90 

Were still at odds, being but three. 
Moth. Until the goose came out of door, 

And stay'd the odds by adding four. 
Now will I begin your moral, and do you follow with 
my l'envoy. 

The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee, 
Were still at odds, being but three. 
Armado. Until the goose came out of door, 
Staying the odds by adding four. 
Moth. A good l'envoy, ending in the goose ; would 
you desire more ? 101 

Costard. The boy hath sold him a bargain, a goose, 
that 's flat. — 
Sir, your pennyworth is good, an your goose be fat. — 
To sell a bargain well is as cunning as fast and 

loose. 
Let me see — a fat l'envoy ; ay, that 's a fat goose. 
A?'j?iado. Come hither, come hither. How did this 

argument begin ? 
Moth. By saying that a costard was broken in a 
shin. 
Then call'd you for the l'envoy. 

Costard. True, and I for a plantain ; thus came your 
argument in, 
Then the boy's fat l'envoy, the goose that you bought, 
And he ended the market. m 

Armado. But tell me ; how was there a costard 
broken in a shin? 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 65 

Moth. I will tell you sensibly. 

Costard. Thou hast no feeling of it, Moth ; I will 
speak that l'envoy. 

I Costard, running out, that was safely within, 
Fell over the threshold and broke my shin. 

Armado. We will talk no more of this matter. 

Costard. Till there be more matter in the shin. 120 

Armado. Marry, Costard, I will enfranchise thee. 

Costard. O, marry me to one Frances ? I smell 
some l'envoy, some goose, in this. 

Armado. By my sweet soul, I mean setting thee 
at liberty, enfreedoming thy person ; thou wert im- 
mured, restrained, captivated, bound. 

Costard. True, true ; and now you will be my 
purgation and let me loose. 128 

Armado. I give thee thy liberty, set thee from 
durance, and, in lieu thereof, impose on thee nothing 
but this : bear this significant [giving a letter] to the 
country maid Jaquenetta. There is remuneration ; 
for the best ward of mine honour is rewarding my 
dependents. — Moth, follow. \_Exit. 

Moth. Like the sequel, I. — Signior Costard, adieu. 

Costard. My sweet ounce of man's flesh ! my incony 
Jew ! — [Exit Moth. 

Now will I look to his remuneration. Remuneration ! 
O, that 's the Latin word for three farthings ; three 
farthings — remuneration. — ' What 's the price of 
this inkle ? ' — ' One penny.' — ' No, I '11 give you a 
remuneration ; ' why, it carries it. — Remuneration ! 
love's labour — 5 



66 Love's Labour's Lost [Act m 

why, it is a fairer name than French crown. I will 
never buy and sell out of this word. 143 

Enter Biron 

Biron. O, my good knave Costard ! exceedingly 
well met. 

Costard. Pray you, sir, how much carnation rib- 
bon may a man buy for a remuneration ? 

Biron. What is a remuneration ? 

Costard. Marry, sir, halfpenny farthing. 

Biron. Why, then, three-farthing worth of silk. 150 

Costard. I thank your worship ; God be wi' you ! 

Biron. Stay, slave ! I must employ thee ; 
As thou wilt win my favour, good my knave, 
Do one thing for me that I shall entreat. 

Costard. When would you have it done, sir ? 

Biron. This afternoon. 

Costard. Well, I will do it, sir ; fare you well. 

Biron. Thou knowest not what it is. 

Costard. I shall know, sir, when I have done it. 

Biron. Why, villain, thou must know first. 160 

Costard. I will come to your worship to-morrow 
morning. 

Biron. It must be done this afternoon. Hark, 
slave, it is but this : 

The princess comes to hunt here in the park, 
And in her train there is a gentle lady ; 
When tongues speak sweetly, then they name her name, 
And Rosaline they call her. Ask for her, 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 67 

And to her white hand see thou do commend 
This sealed-up counsel. There 's thy guerdon ; go. 169 

[ Giving him a shilling. 

Costard. Gardon. — O sweet gardon ! better than 
remuneration, a 'leven-pence farthing better ; most 
sweet gardon ! — I will do it, sir, in print. — Gardon ! 
Remuneration ! [Exit. 

Biron. And I, forsooth, in love ! I that have 
been love's whip ; 
A very beadle to a humorous sigh ; 
A critic, nay, a night-watch constable ; 
A domineering pedant o'er the boy 
Than whom no mortal so magnificent ! 
This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy ; 180 
This senior-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid ; 
Regent of love-rhymes, lord of folded arms, 
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, 
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents, 
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces, 
Sole imperator and great general 
Of trotting paritors, — O my little heart ! — 
And I to be a corporal of his field, 
And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop ! 
What, I ! I love ! I sue ! I seek a wife ! 190 

A woman, that is like a German clock, 
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame, 
And never going right, being a watch, 
But being watch'd that it may still go right ! 
Nay, to be perjur'd, which is worst of all ; 



68 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act in 

And, among three, to love the worst of all ; 

A wightly wanton with a velvet brow, 

With two pitch-balls stuck in her face for eyes ; 

Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed, 

Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard ! 200 

And I to sigh for her ! to watch for her ! 

To pray for her ! Go to ; it is a plague 

That Cupid will impose for my neglect 

Of his almighty dreadful little might. 

Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, and groan ; 

Some men must love my lady and some Joan. \ExiL 




Armado and Moth 



ACT IV 

Scene I. The Park 

Enter the Princess, and her train, a Forester, Boyet, 
Rosaline, Maria, # tz^ Katherine 

Princess. Was that the king, that spurr'd his horse 
so hard 
Against the steep uprising of the hill ? 

Boyet. I know not ; but I think it was not he. 

69 



70 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

Princess. Whoe'er he was, he show'd a mounting 
mind. 
Well, lords, to-day we shall have our dispatch ; 
On Saturday we will return to France. — 
Then, forester, my friend, where is the bush 
That we must stand and play the murtherer in ? 

Forester. Hereby, upon the edge of yonder coppice ; 
A stand where you may make the fairest shoot. 10 

Princess. I thank my beauty, I am fair that shoot, 
And thereupon thou speak'st the fairest shoot. 

Foi-ester. Pardon me, madam, for I meant not so. 

Princess. What, what? first praise me and again 
say no ? 
O short-liv'd pride ! Not fair ? alack for woe ! 

Forester. Yes, madam, fair. 

Princess. Nay, never paint me now ; 

Where fair is not, praise cannot mend the brow. 
Here, good my glass, take this for telling true ; 
Fair payment for foul words is more than due. 

Forester. Nothing but fair is that which you inherit. 20 

Princess. See, see, my beauty will be sav'd by merit ! 
O heresy in fair, fit for these days ! 
A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise. — 
But come, the bow ; now mercy goes to kill, 
And shooting well is then accounted ill. 
Thus will I save my credit in the shoot : 
Not wounding, pity would not let me do 't ; 
If wounding, then it was to show my skill, 
That more for praise than purpose meant to kill. 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 71 

And out of question so it is sometimes, 30 

Glory grows guilty of detested crimes, 

When, for fame's sake, for praise, an outward part, 

We bend to that the working of the heart ; 

As I for praise alone now seek to spill 

The poor deer's blood that my heart means no ill. 

Boyet. Do not curst wives hold that self-sovereignty 
Only for praise sake, when they strive to be 
Lords o'er their lords ? 

Princess. Only for praise ; and praise we may afford 
To any lady that subdues a lord. 40 

Boyet. Here comes a member of the commonwealth. 

Enter Costard 

Costard. God dig-you-den all ! Pray you, which 
is the head lady ? 

Princess. Thou shalt know her, fellow, by the rest 
that have no heads. 

Costard. Which is the greatest lady, the highest ? 

Princess. The thickest and the tallest. 

Costard. The thickest and the tallest ! it is so ; truth 
is truth. 
An your waist, mistress, were as slender as my wit, 
One o' these maids' girdles for your waist should be fit. 50 
Are not you the chief woman ? you are the thickest 
here. 

Princess. What 's your will, sir ? what 's your will ? 

Costard. I have a letter from Monsieur Biron to 
one Lady Rosaline. 



72 Love's Labour's Lost [Act iv 

Princess. O, thy letter, thy letter ! he's a good 
friend of mine. 
Stand aside, good bearer. — Boyet, you can carve ; 
Break up this capon. 

Boyet. I am bound to serve. — 

This letter is mistook, it importeth none here ; 
It is writ to Jaquenetta. 

Princess. We will read it, I swear. 

Break the neck of the wax, and every one give ear. 59 

Boyet. [Reads] l By heaven, that thou art fair, is 
most infallible ; true, that thoic art beauteous ; truth 
itself, that thou art lovely. More fairer than fair, 
beautiful than beauteous, truer than truth itself, have 
commiseration on thy heroical vassal ! The magnani- 
mous and most illustrate king Cophetua set eye upon 
the pernicious and indubitate beggar Zenelophon ; and 
he it was that might rightly say, Veni, vidi, vici ; which 
to annothanize in the vulgar, — O base and obscure 
vulgar! — videlicet, He came, saw, and overcame : he 
came, one ; saw, two ; overcame, three. Who came ? 70 
the king. Why did he come ? to see. Why did he see ? 
to overcome. To whom came he ? to the beggar. What 
saw he ? the beggar. Who overcame he ? the beggar. 
The conclusion is victory. On whose side ? the king's. 
The captive is enriched. On whose side? the beg- 
gar's. The catastrophe is a nuptial. On whose side ? 
the king's. No, on both in one, or one in both. I am 
the king, for so stands the comparison ; thou the 
beggar, for so witnesseth thy lowliness. Shall I com- 



Scene I] Love's Labour *s Lost 73 

mand thy love ? I may. Shall I enforce thy love ? I 80 
could. Shall I entreat thy love ? I will. What shall 
thou exchange for rags ? robes ; for tittles ? titles ; for 
thyself? me. Thus, expecting thy reply, I profane my 
lips on thy foot, my eyes on thy picture, and my heart 
on thy every part. Thine, in the dearest design of 
industry, Don Adriano de Armado. 

' Thus dost thou hear the Nemean lion roar 

' Gainst thee, thou lamb, that standest as his prey. 
Submissive fall his princely feet before, 

And he from forage will incline to play ; go 

But if thou strive, poor soul, what art thou then ? 
Food for his rage, repasture for his den.'' 
Princess. What plume of feathers is he that indited 
this letter ? 
What vane ? what weathercock ? did you ever hear 
better ? 
Boyet. I am much deceiv'd but I remember the 

style. 
Princess. Else your memory is bad, going o'er it ere- 

while. 
Boyet. This Armado is a Spaniard that keeps here 
in court ; 
A phantasime, a Monarcho, and one that makes sport 
To the prince and his bookmates. 

Princess. Thou fellow, a word ; 

Who gave thee this letter ? 

Costard. I told you ; my lord. 100 

Princess. To whom shouldst thou give it ? 



74 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

Costard. From my lord to my lady. 

Princess. From which lord to which lady ? 
Costard. From my lord Biron, a good master of 
mine, 
To a lady of France that he called Rosaline. 

Princess. Thou hast mistaken his letter. — Come, 
lords, away. — 
[To Rosaline] Here, sweet, put up this ; 't will be thine 
another day. \_Exeunt Princess and train. 

Boyet. Who is the suitor ? who is the suitor ? 
Posa/ine. Shall I teach you to know ? 

Boyet. Ay, my continent of beauty. 
Rosaline. Why, she that bears the bow. 

Finely put off ! 

Boyet. My lady goes to kill horns ; but, if thou marry, 
Hang me by the neck if horns that year miscarry, m 
Finely put on ! 

Rosaline. Well, then, I am the shooter. 
Boyet. And who is your deer ? 

Rosaline. If we choose by the horns, yourself come 
not near. 
Finely put on, indeed ! 

Maria. You still wrangle with her, Boyet, and she 

strikes at the brow. 
Boyet. But she herself is hit lower. Have I hit her 

now? 
Rosaline. Shall I come upon thee with an old say- 
ing, that was a man when King Pepin of France was 
a little boy, as touching the ' hit it ' ? 120 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 75 

Boyet. So I may answer thee with one as old, 
that was a woman when Queen Guinever of Britain 
was a little wench, as touching the ' hit it.' 
Rosaline. Thou canst not hit it, hit it, hit it, 

Thou canst not hit it, my good man. 
Boyet. An I cannot, cannot, cannot, 
An I cannot, another can. 

[Exit Rosaline and Katherine. 
Costard. By my troth, most pleasant ! how both did 

fit it ! 
Maria. A mark marvellous well shot, for they both 

did hit it. 

Boyet. A mark ! O, mark but that mark ! A mark, 

says my lady ! 130 

Let the mark have a prick in 't, to mete at, if it may be. 

Maiia. Wide o' the bow-hand ! i' faith, your -hand is 

out. 
Costard. Indeed, a' must shoot nearer, or he'll ne'er 

hit the clout. 
Boyet. An if my hand be out, then belike your hand 

is in. 
Costard. Then will she get the upshoot by cleaving 

the pin. 
Maria. Come, come, you talk greasily ; your lips 

grow foul. 
Costard. She 's too hard for you at pricks, sir ; 

challenge her to bowl. 
Boyet. I fear too much rubbing. — Good-night, my 
good owl. \Exeunt Boyet and Maria. 



y6 Love's Labour's Lost [Act iv 

Costard. By my soul, a swain ! a most simple 

clown ! 139 

Lord, Lord, how the ladies and I have put him down ! — 
O' my troth, most sweet jests ! most incony vulgar 

wit! 
When it comes so smoothly off, so obscenely, as it 

were, so fit. 
Armado o' th' one side, — O, a most dainty man ! 
To see him walk before a lady and to bear her fan ! 
To see him kiss his hand ! and how most sweetly a' 

will swear ! 
And his page o' t' other side, that handful of wit ! 
Ah, heavens, it is a most pathetical nit ! — 
Sola, sola 1 [Shout within. 

[Exit Costard, running. 

Scene II. The Same 
Enter Holofernes, Sir Nathaniel, and Dull 

Nathaniel. Very reverend sport, truly ; and done 
in the testimony of a good conscience. 

Holofernes. The deer was, as you know, sanguis, 
in blood ; ripe as the pomewater, who now hangeth 
like a jewel in the ear of caelo, the sky, the welkin, 
the heaven, and anon falleth like a crab on the face 
of terra, the soil, the land, the earth. 

Nathaniel. Truly, Master Holofernes, the epithets 
are sweetly varied, like a scholar at the least ; but, 
sir, I assure ye, it was a buck of the first head. 10 

Holofernes. Sir Nathaniel, haud credo. 



Scene ii] Love's Labour's Lost 77 

Dull. 'T was not a haud credo ; 't was a pricket. 
Holof ernes. Most barbarous intimation ! yet a kind 
of insinuation, as it were, in via, in way, of explica- 
tion ; facere, as it were, replication, or rather, osten- 
tare, to show, as it were, his inclination, — after his 
undressed, unpolished, uneducated, unpruned, un- 
trained, or rather, unlettered, or ratherest, uncon- 
firmed fashion, — to insert again my haud credo for 
a deer. 20 

Dull. I said the deer was not a haud credo ; 't was a 

pricket. 
Holofernes. Twice-sod simplicity, bis coctus ! — 
O thou monster Ignorance, how deformed dost thou 

look! 
Nathaniel. Sir, he hath never fed of the dainties 

that are bred in a book ; 
he hath not eat paper, as it were ; he hath not drunk 
ink : his intellect is not replenished. He is only an 
animal, only sensible in the duller parts ; 
And such barren plants are set before us, that we 

thankful should be, 
Which we of taste and feeling are, for those parts 

that do fructify in us more than he. 
For as it would ill become me to be vain, indiscreet, 

or a fool, 30 

So were there a patch set on learning, to see him in 

a school. 
But omne bene, say I ; being of an old father's mind, 
Many can brook the weather that love not the wind. 



78 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

Dull. You two are book-men ; can you tell me by 
your wit 
What was a month old at Cain's birth, that 's not five 
weeks old as yet ? 
Holofernes. Dictynna, goodman Dull ; Dictynna, good 

man Dull. 
Dull. What is Dictynna? 

Nathaniel. A title to Phcebe, to Luna, to the moon. 
Holofernes. The moon was a month old when Adam 
was no more, 
And raught not to five weeks when he came to five- 
score. 40 
The allusion holds in the exchange. 

Dull. 'T is true indeed ; the collusion holds in the 

exchange. 
Holofernes. God comfort thy capacity ! I say, the 
allusion holds in the exchange. 

Dull. And I say, the pollusion holds in the ex- 
change, for the moon is never but a month old ; 
and I say beside that, 't was a pricket that the prin- 
cess killed. 

Holofernes. Sir Nathaniel, will you hear an ex- 
temporal epitaph on the death of the deer ? And, to 
humour the ignorant, call I the deer the princess 
killed a pricket. 52 

Nathaniel. Perge, good Master Holofernes, perge, 
so it shall please you to abrogate scurrility. 

Holofernes. I will something affect the letter, for 
it argues facility. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 79 

The preyful princess pierc'd and piick'd a pretty pleasing 
pricket ; 
Some say a sore, but not a sore till now made sore 
with shooting. 
The dogs did yell ; put l to sore, then sorel jumps from 
thicket, 
Or pricket sore, or else sorel ; the people fall a-hoot- 
ing. 60 

If sore be sore, then l to sore makes fifty sores, — O 

sore l / 
Of one sore I an hundred make by adding but one 
more l. 
Nathaniel. A rare talent. 

Dull. [Aside] If a talent be a claw, look how he 
claws him with a talent. 

Holofernes. This is a gift that I have, simple, 
simple ; a foolish extravagant spirit, full of forms, 
figures, shapes, objects, ideas, apprehensions, mo- 
tions, revolutions. These are begot in the ventricle 
of memory, nourished in the womb of pia mater, and 
delivered upon the mellowing of occasion. But the 
gift is good in those in whom it is acute, and I am 
thankful for it. 73 

Nathaniel. Sir, I praise the Lord for you ; and so 
may my parishioners, for their sons are well tutored 
by you, and their daughters profit very greatly under 
you. You are a good member of the commonwealth. 
Holofernes. Mehercle, if their sons be ingenuous, 
they shall want no instruction ; if their daughters be 



80 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

capable, I will put it to them. But vir sapit qui 
pauca loquitur ; a soul feminine saluteth us. 81 

Enter Jaquenetta and Costard 

Jaquenetta. God give you good morrow, master 
Person. 

Holofernes. Master Person, quasi pers-on. An if 
one should be pierced, which is the one ? 

Costard. Marry, master schoolmaster, he that is 
likest to a hogshead. 

Holofernes. Piercing a hogshead ! a good lustre of 
conceit in a turf of earth ; fire enough for a flint, 
pearl enough for a swine. 'T is pretty ; it is well. 90 

Jaquenetta. Good master Person, be so good as 
read me this letter. It was given me by Costard, 
and sent me from Don Armado ; I beseech you, 
read it. 

Holofernes. Fauste, precor gelida quando pecus 
omne sub umbra Ruminat, — and so forth. Ah, 
good old Mantuan ! I may speak of thee as the 
traveller doth of Venice: 

Venetia, Venetia, 

Chi non ti vede non ti pretia. 100 

Old Mantuan, old Mantuan ! who understandeth thee 
not loves thee not. Ut, re, sol, la, mi, fa. Under 
pardon, sir, what are the contents ? or rather, as 
Horace says in his — What, my soul, verses ? 

Nathaniel. Ay, sir, and very learned. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 81 

Holof ernes. Let me hear a staff, a stanza, a verse ; 
lege, domine. 

Nathaniel. [Reads] 
' If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love? 
Ah, never faith could hold, if not to beauty vow'd ! 
Though to jnyselfforswo?'n, to thee P 11 faithful prove ; 
Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers 
bow'd. in 

Study his bias leaves and make his book thine eyes, 

Where all those pleasures live that art would compre- 
hend ; 
If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice. 
Well learned is that tongue that well can thee com- 
mend, 
All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder, 

Which is to me some praise that I thy parts admire. 
Thy eye Jove^s lightning bears, thy voice his dreadful 
thunder, 
Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire. 
Celestial as thou, art, O, pardon love this wrong, 120 

That sings heaven's praise with such an earthly tongue? 
Holof ernes. You find not the apostrophas, and so 
miss the accent ; let me supervise the canzonet. 
Here are only numbers ratified ; but, for the ele- 
gancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy, caret. 
Ovidius Naso was the man ; and why, indeed, Naso, 
but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy, 
the jerks of invention ? Imitari is nothing ; so doth 
the hound his master, the ape his keeper, the tired 
love's labour — 6 



82 Love's Labour's Lost [Act iv 

horse his rider. — But, damosella virgin, was this 
directed to you ? 131 

Jaquenetta. Ay, sir, from one Monsieur Biron, one 
of the strange queen's lords. 

Holof ernes. I will overglance the superscript : ' To 
the snow-white hand of the most beauteous Lady 
Rosaline.'' I will look again on the intellect of the 
letter, for the nomination of the party writing to the 
person written unto : ' Your ladyship's in all desired 
employment, Biron." 1 Sir Nathaniel, this Biron is 
one of the votaries with the king ; and here he hath 
framed a letter to a sequent of the stranger queen's, 
which accidentally, or by the way of progression, 
hath miscarried. — Trip and go, my sweet, deliver 
this paper into the royal hand of the king ; it may 
concern much. Stay not thy compliment ; I for- 
give thy duty. Adieu. 146 

Jaquenetta. Good Costard, go with me. — Sir, 
God save your life ! 

Costard. Have with thee, my girl. 

[Exeunt Costard and Jaquenetta. 

Nathaniel. Sir, you have done this in the fear 
of God, very religiously ; and, as a certain father 
saith, — 152 

Holofernes. Sir, tell not me of the father ; I do 
fear colourable colours. But to return to the verses, 
did they please you, Sir Nathaniel ? 

Nathaniel. Marvellous well for the pen. 

Holofe7-nes. I do dine to-day at the father's of a 



Scene Hi] Love's Labour *s Lost 83 

certain pupil of mine, where, if, before repast, it shall 
please you to gratify the table with a grace, I will, on 
my privilege I have with the parents of the foresaid 
child or pupil, undertake your ben venuto ; where I 
will prove those verses to be very unlearned, neither 
savouring of poetry, wit, nor invention. I beseech 
your society. 164 

Nathaniel. And thank you too ; for society, saith 
the text, is the happiness of life. 

Holofernes. And, certes, the text most infallibly 
concludes it. — -[To Dull] Sir, I do invite you too; 
you shall not say me nay ; pauca verba. — Away ! 
the gentles are at their game, and we will to our 
recreation. [Exeunt 



Scene III. The Same 

Enter Biron, with a paper 

Biron. The king he is hunting the deer ; I am 
coursing myself. They have pitched a toil ; I am 
toiling in a pitch, — pitch that defiles. Defile ! a 
foul word. Well, set thee down, Sorrow ! for so 
they say the fool said, and so say I, and ay the fool. 
Well proved, wit ! By the Lord, this love is as mad 
as Ajax ! it kills sheep ; it kills me, ay, a sheep. Well 
proved again o' my side ! I will not love ; if I do, 
hang me ; i' faith, I will not. O, but her eye, — by 
this light, but for her eye, I would not love her ; yes, for 10 



84 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

her two eyes. Well, I do nothing in the world but lie, 
and lie in my throat. By heaven, I do love, and it 
hath taught me to rhyme and to be melancholy ; 
and here is part of my rhyme, and here my melan- 
choly. Well, she hath one o' my sonnets already. 
The clown bore it, the fool sent it, and the lady hath 
it; sweet clown, sweeter fool, sweetest lady ! By the 
world, I would not care a pin, if the other three were 
in. — Here comes one with a paper ; God give him 
grace to groan ! [Gets up into a tree. 

Enter the King, with a paper 

King. Ay me ! 21 

Biron. [Aside] Shot, by heaven ! — Proceed, 
sweet Cupid ; thou hast thumped him with thy 
bird-bolt under the left pap. — In faith, secrets ! 
King. [Reads] 
So sweet a kiss the golden sun gives not 

To those fresh morning drops upon the rose, 
As thy eye-beams when their fresh rays have smote 

The night of dew that on my cheeks down flows ; 
Nor shines the silver moon one half so bright 

Through the transparent bosom of the deep 30 

As doth thy face through tears of mine give light. 

Thou shirt st in every tear that I do iveep ; 
No drop but as a coach doth cany thee, 

So ridest thou triumphing in my woe. 
Do but behold the tears that siuell in me, 

And they thy glory through my grief will show. 



Scene ill] Love's Labour's Lost 85 

But do not love thyself ; then thou wilt keep 

My tears for glasses, and still make me weep. 

O queen of queens I how far dost thou excel, 

No thought can think, nor tongue of mortal tell. 40 

How shall she know my griefs ? I '11 drop the paper. 

Sweet leaves, shade folly. — Who is he comes here ? 

[Steps aside. 

What, Longaville ! and reading ! listen, ear. 

Biron. Now, in thy likeness, one more fool appear ! 

Enter Longaville, with a paper 

Longaville. Ay me, I am forsworn ! 

Biron. Why, he comes in like a perjure, wearing 

papers. 
King. In love, I hope ; sweet fellowship in shame ! 
Biron. One drunkard loves another of the name. 
Longaville. Am I the first that have been perjur'd 

so ? 
Biron. I could put thee in comfort, — not by two 
that I know. 50 

Thou mak'st the triumviry, the corner-cap of society, 
The shape of Love's Tyburn that hangs up simplicity. 
Longaville. I fear these stubborn lines lack power to 
move. — 
O sweet Maria, empress of my love ! — 
These numbers will I tear, and write in prose. 

Biron. O, rhymes are guards on wanton Cupid's 
hose; 
Disfigure not his slop. 



86 Love's Labour's Lost [Act iv 

Longaville. This same shall go. — 

[Reads] Did not the heavenly rhetoi'ic of thine eye, 

' Gainst whom the world cannot hold argument, 
Persuade my heart to this false perjury ? 60 

Vows for thee broke deserve not punishment. 
A woman I forswore, but I will prove, 

Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee. 
My vow was earthly, thou a heavenly love ; 

Thy grace being gained cures all disgrace in me. 
Vows are but breath, and breath a vapour is ; 

Then thou, fair sun, which on my earth dost shine, 
ExhaVst this vapour-vow, in thee it is. 
If broken then, it is no fault of mine ; 
If by me broke, what fool is not so wise 70 

To lose an oath to win a paradise ? 
Biron. This is the liver-vein, which makes flesh a 
deity, 
A green goose a goddess ; pure, pure idolatry. 
God amend us, God amend ! we are much out o' the way. 
Longaville. By whom shall I send this ? Company ! 
stay. [Steps aside. 

Biron. All hid, all hid ; an old infant play. 
Like a demigod here sit I in the sky, 
And wretched fools' secrets needfully o'er-eye. — 
More sacks to the mill ! O heavens, I have my wish ! 

Enter Dumain, with a paper 

Dumain transform'd ! four woodcocks in a dish 1 80 

Dumain. O most divine Kate ! 



Scene III] Love's Labour 's Lost 87 

Biron. O most profane coxcomb ! 
Dumain. By heaven, the wonder in a mortal eye ! 
Biron. By earth, she is not, corporal, there you lie. 
Dumain. Her amber hairs for foul hath amber quoted. 
Biron. An amber-colour 'd raven was well noted. 
Dumain. As upright as the cedar. 
Biron. Stoop, I say ; 

Her shoulder is with child. 

Dumain. As fair as day. 

Biron. Ay, as some days ; but then no sun must shine. 

Dumain. O that I had my wish ! 

Longaville. And I had mine ! 

King. And I mine too, good Lord ! 91 

Biron. Amen, so I had mine ! is not that a good 

word? 
Dumain. I would forget her ; but a fever she 
Reigns in my blood and will remember'd be. 

Biron. A fever in your blood ! why, then incision 
Would let her out in saucers ; sweet misprision ! 

Dumain. Once more I '11 read the ode that I have 

writ. 
Biron. Once more I '11 mark how love can vary wit. 
Dumain. [Reads] 

On a day — alack the day ! — 

Love, whose month is ever May, 100 

Spied a blossom passing fair 

Playing in the wanton air ; 

Through the velvet leaves the wind, 

All unseen can passage find, 



88 Love's Labour's Lost [Act IV 

That the lover, sick to death, 

Wished himself the heaven's breath. 

Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow ; 

Air, would I might lriu?nph so / 

But, alack, my hand is stvorn 

Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn; no 

Vow, alack, for youth unmeet, 

Youth so apt to pluck a sweet / 

Do not call it sin in me 

That I am forsworn for thee ; 

Thou for whom Jove would swear 

Juno but an Ethiope were, 

And deny himself for Jove, 

Turning ?nortalfor thy love. 
This will I send, and something else more plain 
That shall express my true love's fasting pain. 120 

O, would the King, Biron, and Longaville, 
Were lovers too ! Ill, to example ill, 
Would from my forehead wipe a perjur'd note ; 
For none offend where all alike do dote. 

Longaville. [Advancing - ] Dumain, thy love is far from 
charity, 
That in love's grief desir'st society ; 
You may look pale, but I should blush, I know, 
To be o'erheard and taken napping so. 

King. [Advancing] Come, sir, you blush ; as his 
your case is such ; 
You chide at him, offending twice as much. 130 

You do not love Maria ; Longaville 



Scene in] Love's Labour 's Lost 89 

Did never sonnet for her sake compile, 
Nor never lay his wreathed arms athwart 
His loving bosom to keep down his heart. 
I have been closely shrouded in this bush 
And mark'd you both, and for you both did blush. 
I heard your guilty rhymes, observ'd your fashion, 
Saw sighs reek from you, noted well your pas- 
sion : 
Ay me ! says one ; O Jove ! the other cries ; 
One, her hairs were gold, crystal the other's eyes. — 140 
[To LongavilZe] You would for paradise break faith 

and troth ; — 
[To Dumain\ And Jove, for your love, would infringe 

an oath. 
What will Biron say when that he shall hear 
Faith so infringed, which such zeal did swear ? 
How will he scorn ! how will he spend his wit ! 
How will he triumph, leap, and laugh at it ! 
For all the wealth that ever I did see, 
I would not have him know so much by me. 
Biron. Now step I forth to whip hypocrisy. — 

[Advancing. 
Ah, good my liege, I pray thee, pardon me ! 15a 

Good heart, what grace hast thou, thus to reprove 
These worms for loving, that art most in love ? 
Your eyes do make no coaches ; in your tears 
There is no certain princess that appears ; 
You '11 not be perjur'd, 't is a hateful thing ; 
Tush, none but minstrels like of sonneting ! 



90 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act IV 

But are you not asham'd ? nay, are you not, 

All three of you, to be thus much o'ershot ? 

You found his mote ; the king your mote did see ; 

But I a beam do find in each of three. 160 

O, what a scene of foolery have I seen, 

Of sighs, of groans, of sorrow, and of teen ! 

me, with what strict patience have I sat, 
To see a king transformed to a gnat ! 

To see great Hercules whipping a gig, 

And profound Solomon to tune a jig, 

And Nestor play at push-pin with the boys, 

And critic Timon laugh at idle toys ! — 

Where lies thy grief, O, tell me, good Dumain ? — 

And, gentle Longaville, where lies thy pain ? — 170 

And where my liege's ? all about the breast. — 

A caudle, ho ! 

King. Too bitter is thy jest. 

Are we betray 'd thus to thy over-view ? 

Biron. Not you to me, but I betray'd by you : 
I,, that am honest ; I, that hold it sin 
To break the vow I am engaged in ; 

1 am betray'd, by keeping company 
With men like you, men of inconstancy. 
When shall you see me write a thing in rhyme ? 

Or groan for love ? or spend a minute's time 180 

In pruning me ? When shall you hear that I 
Will praise a hand, a foot, a face, an eye, 
A gait, a state, a brow, a breast, a waist, 
A leg, a limb ? — 



Scene III] Love's Labour's Lost 91 

King. Soft ! whither away so fast ? 

A true man or a thief that gallops so ? 

Biron. I post from love ; good lover, let me go. 

Enter Jaquenetta and Costard 

Jaque?ietta. God bless the king ! 
King. What present hast thou there ? 

Costard. Some certain treason. 

King. What makes treason here ? 

Costard. Nay, it makes nothing, sir. 
King. If it mar nothing neither, 

The treason and you go in peace away together. 190 
Jaquenetta. I beseech your grace let this letter be 
read. 
Our person misdoubts it ; 't was treason, he said. 

King. Biron, read it over. — [Giving him the paper. 
Where hadst thou it ? 
Jaquenetta. Of Costard. 
King. Where hadst thou it ? 
Costard. Of Dun Adramadio, Dun Adramadio. 

[Biron tears the letter. 
King. How now ! what is in you ? why dost thou 

tear it ? 
Biron. A toy, my liege, a toy; your grace needs not 

fear it. 
Longaville. It did move him to passion, and there- 
fore let 's hear it. 200 
Dumain. It is Biron's writing, and here is his name. 

[ Gathering up the pieces. 



92 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

Biron. \_To Costard'] Ah, you whoreson loggerhead! 
you were born to do me shame. — 
Guilty, my lord, guilty ! I confess, I confess. 

King. What? 

Biron. That you three fools lack'd me fool to make 
up the mess. 
He, he, and you, and you, my liege, and I, 
Are pick-purses in love, and we deserve to die. 
O, dismiss this audience, and I shall tell you more. 

Dumain. Now the number is even. 

Biron. True, true ; we are four. — 

Will these turtles be gone ? 

King. Hence, sirs ; away ! 210 

Costard. Walk aside the true folk, and let the traitors 
stay. \_Exeunt Costard and Jaquenetta. 

Biron. Sweet lords, sweet lovers, O, let us embrace ! 

As true we are as flesh and blood can be. 
The sea will ebb and flow, heaven show his face ; 

Young blood doth not obey an old decree. 
We cannot cross the cause why we were born ; 
Therefore of all hands must we be forsworn. 

King. What, did these rent lines show some love of 
thine ? 

Biron. Did they, quoth you ? Who sees the heavenly 
Rosaline, 
That, like a rude and savage .man of Inde, 220 

At the first opening of the gorgeous east, 
Bows not his vassal head, and strucken blind 

Kisses the base ground with obedient breast ? 



Scene ill] Love's Labour 's Lost 93 

What peremptory eagle-sighted eye 

Dares look upon the heaven of her brow, 
That is not blinded by her majesty ? 

King. What zeal, what fury hath inspir'd thee now ? 
My love, her mistress, is a gracious moon ; 

She an attending star, scarce seen a light. 

Biron. My eyes are then no eyes, nor I Biron. 230 

O, but for my love, day would turn to night ! 
Of all complexions the cull'd sovereignty 

Do meet, as at a fair, in her fair cheek, 
Where several worthies make one dignity, 

Where nothing wants that want itself doth seek. 
Lend me the flourish of all gentle tongues, — 

Fie, painted rhetoric ! O, she needs it not ! 
To things of sale a seller's praise belongs, 

She passes praise ; then praise too short doth blot. 
A wither'd hermit, five-score winters worn, 240 

Might shake off fifty, looking in her eye ; 
Beauty doth varnish age, as if new-born, 

And gives the crutch the cradle's infancy. 
O, 't is the sun that maketh all things shine ! 

King. By heaven, thy love is black as ebony. 

Biron. Is ebony like her ? O wood divine ! 

A wife of such wood were felicity. 
O, who can give an oath ? where is a book ? 

That I may swear beauty doth beauty lack, 
If that she learn not of her eye to look ; 250 

No face is fair that is not full so black. 

King. O paradox ! Black is the badge of hell, 



94 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

The hue of dungeons, and the shade of night ; 
And beauty's crest becomes the heavens well. 

Biron. Devils soonest tempt, resembling spirits of 

light. 
O, if in black my lady's brows be deck'd, 

It mourns that painting and usurping hair 
Should ravish doters with a false aspect ; 

And therefore is she born to make black fair. 
Her favour turns the fashion of the days, 260 

For native blood is counted painting now, 
And therefore red, that would avoid dispraise, 
Paints itself black, to imitate her brow. 
Dumain. To look like her are chimney-sweepers 

black. 
Longaville. And since her time are colliers counted 

bright. 
King. And Ethiopes of their sweet complexion crack. 
Dumain. Dark needs no candles now, for dark is light. 
Biron. Your mistresses dare never come in rain, 
For fear their colours should be wash'd away. 
King. 'T were good yours did ; for, sir, to tell you 

plain, 270 

I '11 find a fairer face not wash'd to-day. 
Biron. I '11 prove her fair, or talk till doomsday here. 
King. No devil will fright thee then so much as 

she. 
Dumain. I never knew man hold vile stuff so dear. 
Longaville. Look, here 's thy love ; my foot and her 

face see. 



Scene ill] Love's Labour's Lost 95 

Biron. O, if the streets were paved with thine eyes, 

Her feet were much too dainty for such tread ! 

Dumain. O vile ! then, as she goes, what upward lies 

The street should see as she walk'd overhead. 

King. But what of this ? are we not all in love ? 280 

Biron. Nothing so sure ; and thereby all forsworn. 

King. Then leave this chat ; and, good Biron, now 
prove 

Our loving lawful, and our faith not torn. 

Dumain. Ay, marry, there ; some flattery for this evil. 

Longaville. O, some authority how to proceed ; 
. Some tricks, some quillets, how to cheat the devil. 

Dumain. Some salve for perjury. 

Biron. 'T is more than need. 

Have at you, then, affection's men at arms. 
Consider what you first did swear unto, — 
To fast, to study, and to see no woman ; 290 

Flat treason 'gainst the kingly state of youth. 
Say, can you fast ? your stomachs are too young, 
And abstinence engenders maladies. 
And where that you have vow'd to study, lords, 
In that each of you have forsworn his book, 
Can you still dream and pore and thereon look ? 
[For when would you, my lord, — or you, — or you, — : 
Have found the ground of study's excellence 
Without the beauty of a woman's face ? 
From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : 300 

They are the ground, the books, the academes, 
From whence doth spring the true Promethean fire.] 



g6 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act IV 

Why, universal plodding poisons up 

The nimble spirits in the arteries, 

As motion and long-during action tires 

The sinewy vigour of the traveller. 

Now, for not looking on a woman's face, 

You have in that forsworn the use of eyes, 

And study too, the causer of your vow ; 

[For where is any author in the world 310 

Teaches such beauty as a woman's eye ? 

Learning is but an adjunct to ourself , 

And where we are our learning likewise is ; 

Then when ourselves we see in ladies' eyes, 

Do we not likewise see our learning there ? 

O, we have made a vow to study, lords, 

And in that vow we have forsworn our books.] 

For when would you, my liege, — or you, — or you, — 

In leaden contemplation have found out 

Such fiery numbers as the prompting eyes 320 

Of beauty's tutors have enrich'd you with ? 

Other slow arts entirely keep the brain, 

And therefore, finding barren practisers, 

Scarce show a harvest of their heavy toil ; 

But love, first learned in a lady's eyes, 

Lives not alone immured in the brain, 

But, with the motion of all elements, 

Courses as swift as thought in every power, 

And gives to every power a double power, 

Above their functions and their offices. 330 

It adds a precious seeing to the eye ; 



Scene in] Love's Labour 's Lost 97 

A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind ; 
A lover's ear will hear the lowest sound 
When the suspicious head of theft is stopp'd ; 
Love's feeling is more soft and sensible 
Than are the tender horns of cockled snails ; 
Love's tongue proves dainty Bacchus gross in taste. 
For valour, is not Love a Hercules, 
Still climbing trees in the Hesperides ? 
Subtle as Sphinx ; as sweet and musical 340 

As bright Apollo's lute, strung with his hair ; 
And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods 
Make heaven drowsy with the harmony. 
Never durst poet touch a pen to write 
Until his ink were temper 'd with Love's sighs ; 
O, then his lines would ravish savage ears 
And plant in tyrants mild humility ! 
From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : 
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire ; 
They are the books, the arts, the academes, 350 

That show, contain, and nourish all the world, 
Else none at all in aught proves excellent. 
Then fools you were these women to forswear, 
Or keeping what is sworn, you will prove fools. 
For wisdom's sake, a word that all men love, 
Or for love's sake, a word that loves all men, 
Or for men's sake, the authors of these women, 
Or women's sake, by whom we men are men, 
Let us once lose our oaths to find ourselves, 
Or else we lose ourselves to keep our oaths. 360 

love's labour — 7 



98 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act iv 

It is religion to be thus forsworn, 
For charity itself fulfils the law, — - 
And who can sever love from charity ? 

King. Saint Cupid, then ! and, soldiers, to the field ! 

Biron. Advance your standards, and upon them, 
lords ! 
Pell-mell, down with them ! but be first ad vis 'd, 
In conflict that you get the sun of them. 

Longaville. Now to plain-dealing ; lay these glozes 
by. 
Shall we resolve to woo these girls of France ? 

King. And win them too ; therefore let us devise 
Some entertainment for them in their tents. 371 

Biron. First, from the park let us conduct them 
thither ; 
Then homeward every man attach the hand 
Of his fair mistress. In the afternoon 
We will with some strange pastime solace them, 
Such as the shortness of the time can shape ; 
For revels, dances, masks, and merry hours 
Forerun fair Love, strewing her way with flowers. 

King. Away, away ! no time shall be omitted 
That will be time, and may by us be fitted. 380 

Biron. Allons ! allons ! — Sow'd cockle reap'd no 
corn, 

And justice always whirls in equal measure. 
Light wenches may prove plagues to men forsworn ; 

If so, our copper buys no better treasure. \_Exeunt. 




:15 

HOLOFERNES AND MOTH 



ACT V 

Scene I. The Park 
Enter Holofernes, Sir Nathaniel, and Dull 

Holofernes. Satis quod sufficit. 

Nathaniel. I praise God for you, sir ; your reasons 
at dinner have been sharp and sententious, pleasant 
without scurrility, witty without affection, audacious 
without impudency, learned without opinion, and 
strange without heresy. I did converse this quon- 

99 



LtfC. 



too Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

dam day with a companion of the king's, who is intit- 
uled, nominated, or called, Don Adriano de Armado. 

Holofernes. Novi hominem tanquam te ; his hu- 
mour is lofty, his discourse peremptory, his tongue 
filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majestical, and his 
general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical. 
He is too picked, too spruce, too affected, too odd, 
as it were, too peregrinate, as I may call it. 14 

Nathaniel. A most singular and choice epithet. 

\_Draws out his table-book. 

Holofernes. He draweth out the thread of his 
verbosity finer than the staple of his argument. I ab- 
hor such fanatical phantasimes, such insociable and 
point-device companions ; such rackers of orthog- 
raphy, as to speak dout, fine, when he should say 20 
doubt ; det, when he should pronounce debt, — d, e, b, t, 
not d, e, t ; he clepeth a calf, cauf ; half, hauf ; neigh- 
bour vocatur nebour ; neigh abbreviated ne. This 
is abhominable, — which he would call abominable ; 
it insinuateth me of insanire. Ne intelligis, domine ? 
to make frantic, lunatic. 

Nathaniel. Laus Deo, bone, intelligo. 

Holofernes. Bone ! — bone for bene ! Priscian a 
little scratched ; 't will serve. 

Nathaniel. Videsne quis venit ? 30 

Holofernes. Video, et gaudeo. 

Enter Armado, Moth, and Costard 
Armado. Chirrah! [To Moth. 



Scene I] Love's Labour 's Lost 101 

Holofernes. Quare chirrah, not sirrah? 

Armado. Men of peace, well encountered. 

Holofernes. Most military sir, salutation. 

Moth. [Aside to Costard] They have been at a 
great feast of languages and stolen the scraps. 

Costard. O, they have lived long on the alms- 
basket of words. I marvel thy master hath not eaten 
thee for a word, for thou art not so long by the 
head as honorificabilitudinitatibus ; thou art easier 
swallowed than a flap-dragon. 42 

Moth. Peace ! the peal begins. 

Armado. [To Holofernes~\ Monsieur, are you not 
lettered ? 

Moth. Yes, yes ; he teaches boys the horn-book. 
What is a, b, spelt backward, with the horn on his 
head ? 

Holofernes. Ba, pueritia, with a horn added. 

Moth. Ba, most silly sheep with a horn ! You 
hear his learning. 51 

Holofernes. Quis, quis, thou consonant ? 

Moth. The third of the five vowels, if you repeat 
them ; or the fifth, if I. 

Holofernes. I will repeat them, — a, e, i, — 

Moth. The sheep ; the other two concludes it, — 
o, u. 

Armado. Now, by the salt wave of the Mediter- 
raneum, a sweet touch, a quick venue of wit ! snip, 
snap, quick and home ! it rejoiceth my intellect ; 
true wit! 61 



102 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Moth. Offered by a child to an old man, which is 
wit-old. 

Holof ernes. What is the figure ? what is the figure ? 

Moth. Horns. 

Holof ernes. Thou disputest like an infant ; go, whip 
thy gig. 

Moth. Lend me your horn to make one, and I 
will whip about your infamy circum circa, — a gig of 
a cuckold's horn. 70 

Costard. An I had but one penny in the world, 
thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread. Hold, 
there is the very remuneration I had of thy master, 
thou halfpenny purse of wit, thou pigeon-egg of dis- 
cretion. O, an the heavens were so pleased that 
thou wert but my bastard, what a joyful father 
wouldst thou make me ! Go to ; thou hast it ad 
dunghill, at the finger's ends, as they say. 

Holof ernes. O, I smell false Latin, — dunghill for 
unguem ! 80 

Arrnado. Arts-man, preambulate ; we will be 
singled from the barbarous. Do you not educate 
youth at the charge-house on the top of the mountain ? 

Holofernes. Or mons, the hill. 

Armado. At your sweet pleasure, for the mountain. 

Holofernes. I do, sans question. 

Armado. Sir, it is the king's most sweet pleasure 
and affection to congratulate the princess at her 
pavilion in the posteriors of this day, which the 
rude multitude call the afternoon. 90 



Scene I] Love's Labour's Lost 103 

Holofemes. The posterior of the day, most gener- 
ous sir, is liable, congruent, and measurable for the 
afternoon ; the word is well culled, choice, sweet, and 
apt, I do assure you, sir, I do assure. 

Armado. Sir, the king is a noble gentleman, and 
my familiar, I do assure ye, very good friend ; for 
what is inward between us, let it pass. I do beseech 
thee, remember thy courtesy, — I beseech thee, 
apparel thy head ; — and among other importunate 
and most serious designs, and of great import indeed, 100 
too, — but let that pass; — for I must tell thee, it 
will please his grace, by the world, sometime to lean 
upon my poor shoulder, and with his royal finger, 
thus, dally with my excrement, with my mustachio, 
— but, sweet heart, let that pass. By the world, I 
recount no fable ; some certain special honours it 
pleaseth his greatness to impart to Armado, a soldier, 
a man of travel, that hath seen the world, — but let 
that pass. — The very all of all is, — but, sweet heart, 
I do implore secrecy, — that the king would have me no 
present the princess, sweet chuck, with some delight- 
ful ostentation, or show, or pageant, or antique, or 
firework. Now, understanding that the curate and 
your sweet self are good at such eruptions and 
sudden breaking out of mirth, as it were, I have 
acquainted you withal, to the end to crave your 
assistance. 

Holofemes. Sir, you shall present before her the 
Nine Worthies. — Sir Nathaniel, as concerning some 



104 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

entertainment of time, some show in the posterior 
of this day, to be rendered by our assistants, at the 
king's command, and this most gallant, illustrate, and 
learned gentleman, before the princess, — I say none 
so fit as to present the Nine Worthies. 124 

Natha7iiel. Where will you find men worthy 
enough to present them ? 

Holof ernes. Joshua, yourself; myself or this gal- 
lant gentleman, Judas Maccabaeus ; this swain, be- 
cause of his great limb or joint, shall pass Pompey 
the Great ; the page, Hercules, — 130 

Armado. Pardon, sir, error ; he is not quantity 
enough for that worthy's thumb, he is not so big as 
the end of his club. 

Holof ernes. Shall I have audience ? he shall 
present Hercules in minority ; his enter and exit 
shall be strangling a snake, and I will have an 
apology for that purpose. 

Moth. An excellent device ! so, if any of the audi- 
ence hiss, you may cry ' Well done, Hercules ! now 
thou crushest the snake ! ' that is the way to make 
an offence gracious, though few have the grace to do it. 

Armado. For the rest of the Worthies ? — 142 

Holofernes. I will play three myself. 

Moth. Thrice worthy gentleman ! 

Armado. Shall I tell you a thing ? 

Holofernes. We attend. 

Armado. We will have, if this fadge not, an 
antique. I beseech you, follow. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 105 

Holof ernes. Via ! — Goodman Dull, thou hast 
spoken no word all this while. 150 

Dull. Nor understood none neither, sir. 
Holofernes. Allons ! we will employ thee. 
Dull. I '11 make one in a dance, or so ; or I will 

play 
On the tabor to the Worthies, and let them dance 

the hay. 
Holofernes. Most dull, honest Dull ! — To our sport, 

away ! [Exeunt. 

Scene II. The Same 

Enter the Princess, Katherine, Rosaline, and Maria 

Princess. Sweet hearts, we shall be rich ere we de- 
part 
If fairings come thus plentifully in. 
A lady wall'd about with diamonds ! — 
Look you what I have from the loving king. 

Rosaline. Madame, came nothing else along with 

that? 
Princess. Nothing but this ! yes, as much love in 
rhyme 
As would be cramm'd up in a sheet of paper, 
Writ on both sides the leaf, margent and all, 
That he was fain to seal on Cupid's name. 

Rosaline. That was the way to make his godhead 
wax, 10 

For he hath been five thousand years a boy. 

Katherine. Ay, and a shrewd, unhappy gallows too. 



io6 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Rosaline. You '11 ne'er be friends with him ; he kill'd 

your sister. 
Katherine. He made her melancholy, sad, and heavy ; 
And so she died. Had she been light, like you, 
Of such a merry, nimble, stirring spirit, 
She might ha' been a grandam ere she died ; 
And so may you, for a light heart lives long. 

Rosaline. What 's your dark meaning, mouse, of this 

light word ? 
Katherine. A light condition in a beauty dark. 20 
Rosaline. We need more light to find your meaning 

out. 
Katherine. You '11 mar the light by taking it in snuff, 
Therefore I '11 darkly end the argument. 

Rosaline. Look, what you do, you do it still i' the 

dark. 
Katherine. So do not you, for you are a light wench. 
Rosaline. Indeed I weigh not you, and therefore 

light. 
Katherine. You weigh me not ? O, that 's you care 

not for me ! 
Rosaline. Great reason ; for past cure is still past 

care. 
Princess. Well bandied both ; a set of wit well 
play'd. — 
But, Rosaline, you have a favour, too. 30 

Who sent it ? and what is it ? 

Rosaline. I would you knew. 

An if my face were but as fair as yours, 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 107 

My favour were as great ; be witness this. 

Nay, I have verses too, I thank Biron ; 

The numbers true, and, were the numbering too, 

I were the fairest goddess on the ground. 

I am compar'd to twenty thousand fairs. 

O, he hath drawn my picture in his letter ! 

Princess. Any thing like ? 

Rosaline. Much in the letters, nothing in the praise. 

Princess. Beauteous as ink ; a good conclusion. 41 

Katherine. Fair as a text B in a copy-book. 

Rosaline. Ware pencils, ho ! let me not die your 
debtor, 
My red dominical, my golden letter ! 
O that your face were not so full of O's ! 

Katherine. A pox of that jest ! and beshrew all 
shrows. 

Princess. But, Katherine, what was sent to you from 
fair Dumain ? 

Katherine. Madam, this glove. 

Princess. Did he not send you twain ? 

Katherine. Yes, madam, and moreover 
Some thousand verses of a faithful lover, — 50 

A huge translation of hypocrisy, 
Vilely compil'd, profound simplicity. 

Maria. This and these pearls to me sent Longaville ; 
The letter is too long by half a mile. 

Princess. I think no less. Dost thou not wish in 
heart 
The chain were longer and the letter short ? 



108 Love's Labour's Lost [Act V 

Maria. Ay, or I would these hands might never 

part. 
Princess. We are wise girls to mock our lovers 

so. 
Rosaline. They are worse fools to purchase mock- 
ing so. 
That same Biron I '11 torture ere I go. 60 

O that I knew he were but in by the week ! 
How I would make him fawn and beg and seek, 
And wait the season, and observe the times, 
And spend his prodigal wits in bootless rhymes, 
And shape his service wholly to my hests, 
And make him proud to make me proud that jests ! 
So potent-like would I o'ersway his state - 
That he should be my fool and I his fate. 

Princess. None are so surely caught, when they are 
catch'd, 
As wit turn'd fool ; folly, in wisdom hatch'd, 70 

Hath wisdom's warrant and the help of school, 
And wit's own grace to grace a learned fool. 

Rosaline. The blood of youth burns not with such 
excess 
As gravity's revolt to wantonness. 

Maria. Folly in fools bears not so strong a note 
As foolery in the wise, when wit doth dote ; 
Since all the power thereof it doth apply 
To prove, by wit, worth in simplicity. 

Princess. Here comes Boyet, and mirth is in his 
face. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 109 

Enter Boyet 

Boyet. O, I am stabb'd with laughter ! Where 's 
her grace ? 80 

Princess. Thy news, Boyet ? 

Boyet. Prepare, madam, prepare ! — 

Arm, wenches, arm ! encounters mounted are 
Against your peace. Love doth approach disguis'd, 
Armed in arguments ; you '11 be surpris'd. 
Muster your wits, stand in your own defence, 
Or hide your heads like cowards and fly hence. 

Princess. Saint Denis to Saint Cupid ! What are 
they 
That charge their breath against us ? say, scout, say. 

Boyet. Under the cool shade of a sycamore 
I thought to close mine eyes some half an hour 90 

When, lo ! to interrupt my purpos'd rest, 
Toward that shade I might behold addrest 
The king and his companions ; warily 
I stole into a neighbour thicket by, 
And overheard what you shall overhear, — 
That, by and by, disguis'd they will be here. 
Their herald is a pretty knavish page, 
That well by heart hath conn'd his embassage. 
Action and accent did they teach him there, — 
' Thus must thou speak,' and ' thus thy body bear ; ' 100 
And ever and anon they made a doubt 
Presence majestical would put him out. 
1 For,' quoth the king, ' an angel shalt thou see ; 



no Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Yet fear not thou, but speak audaciously.' 

The boy replied, ' An angel is not evil ; 

I should have fear'd her had she been a devil.' 

With that, all laugh 'd and clapp'd him on the shoulder, 

Making the bold wag by their praises bolder. 

One rubb'd his elbow thus, and fleer'd, and swore 

A better speech was never spoke before ; no 

Another, with his finger and his thumb, 

Cried, i Via ! we will do 't, come what will come ; ' 

The third he caper'd, and cried, ' All goes well ; ' 

The fourth turn'd on the toe, and down he fell. 

With that, they all did tumble on the ground, 

With such a zealous laughter, so profound, 

That in this spleen ridiculous appears, 

To check their folly, passion's solemn tears. 

Princess. But what, but what, come they to visit us ? 

Boyet. They do, they do ; and are apparell'd thus, 
Like Muscovites or Russians, as I guess. 121 

Their purpose is to parle, to court, and dance ; 
And every one his love-feat will advance 
Unto his several mistress, which they '11 know 
By favours several which they did bestow. 

Princess. And will they so ? the gallants shall be task'd ; 
For, ladies, we will every one be mask'd, 
And not a man of them shall have the grace, 
Despite of suit, to see a lady's face. — 
Hold, Rosaline, this favour thou shalt wear, 130 

And then the king will court thee for his dear ; 
Hold, take thou this, my sweet, and give me thine, 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 1 1 1 

So shall Biron take me for Rosaline. — 

And change you favours too ; so shall your loves 

Woo contrary, deceiv'd by these removes. 

Rosaline. Come on, then ; wear the favours most in 
sight. 

Katherine. But in this changing what is your intent ? 

Princess. The effect of my intent is to cross theirs ; 
They do it but in mocking merriment, 
And mock for mock is only my intent. 140 

Their several counsels they unbosom shall 
To loves mistook, and so be mock'd withal 
Upon the next occasion that we meet, 
With visages display'd, to talk and greet. 

Rosaline. But shall we dance, if they desire us to 't ? 

Princess. No, to the death, we will not move a foot ; 
Nor to their penn'd speech render we no grace, 
But while 't is spoke each turn away her face. 

Boyet. Why, that contempt will kill the speaker's 
heart, 
And quite divorce his memory from his part. 150 

Princess. Therefore I do it ; and I make no doubt 
The rest will ne'er come in if he be out. 
There 's no such sport as sport by sport o'erthrown, 
To make theirs ours, and ours none but our own ; 
So shall we stay, mocking intended game, 
And they, well mock'd, depart away with shame. 

\Trumpets sound within. 

Boyet. The trumpet sounds : be mask'd ; the mask- 
ers come. [The Ladies mask. 



ii2 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Enter Blacka?noors with itiusic ; Moth ; the King, Bi- 
ron, Longaville, and Dumain, in Russian habits, 
and masked 

Moth. All hail, the richest beauties on the earth ! 

Boyet. Beauties no richer than rich taffeta. 

Moth. A holy parcel of the fairest dames 160 

[The Ladies turn their backs to him. 
That ever turn'd their — backs — to mortal views ! 

Biron. [Aside to Moth~] Their eyes, villain, their 
eyes. 

Moth. That ever turn'd their eyes to mortal views ! — 
Out — 

Boyet. True ; out indeed. 

Moth. Out of your favours, heavenly spirits, vouchsafe 
Not to behold — 

Biron. [Aside to Moth~\ Once to behold, rogue. 

Moth. Once to behold with your sun-beamed eyes, 
with your sun-beamed eyes — 170 

Boyet. They will not answer to that epithet ; 
You were best call it daughter-beamed eyes. 

Moth. They do not mark me, and that brings me out. 

Biron. Is this your perfectness ? be gone, you 
rogue ! \_Exit Moth. 

Rosaline. What would these strangers ? know their 
minds, Boyet. 
If they do speak our language, 't is our will 
That some plain man recount their purposes. 
Know what they would. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 113 

Boyet. What would you with the princess ? 

Biron. Nothing but peace and gentle visitation. 180 

Rosaline. What would they, say they ? 

Boyet. Nothing but peace and gentle visitation. 

Rosaline. Why, that they have ; and bid them so 
be gone. 

Boyet. She says, you have it, and you may be gone. 

King. Say to her, we have measur'd many miles 
To tread a measure with her on this grass. 

Boyet. They say that they have measur'd many a 
mile 
To tread a measure with you on this grass. 

Rosaline. It is not so. Ask them how many inches 
Is in one mile ; if they have measur'd many, 190 

The measure then of one is easily told. 

Boyet. If to come hither you have measur'd miles, 
And many miles, the princess bids you tell 
How many inches doth fill up one mile. 

Biron. Tell her, we measure them by weary steps. 

Boyet. She hears herself. 

Rosaline, How many weary steps, 

Of many weary miles you have o'ergone, 
Are number 'd in the travel of one mile ? 

Biron. We number nothing that we spend for you ; 
Our duty is so rich, so infinite, 200 

That we may do it still without accompt. 
Vouchsafe to show the sunshine of your face, 
That we, like savages, may worship it. 

Rosaline. My face is but a moon, and clouded too. 
love's labour — 8 



ii4 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

King. Blessed are clouds, to do as such clouds do ! 
Vouchsafe, bright moon, — and these thy stars, — to 

shine, 
Those clouds remov'd, upon our watery eyne. 

Rosaline. O vain petitioner ! beg a greater matter ; 
Thou now request'st but moonshine in the water. 
King. Then, in our measure vouchsafe but one 
change. 210 

Thou bidst me beg ; this begging is not strange. 

Rosaline. Play, music, then! — Nay, you must do it 

soon. [Music plays. 

Not yet, — no dance ! — Thus change I like the moon. 

King. Will you not dance ? How come you thus 

estrang'd ? 
Rosaline. You took the moon at full, but now she 's 

chang'd. 
King. Yet still she is the moon, and I the man. 
The music plays ; vouchsafe some motion to it. 
Rosaline. Our ears vouchsafe it. 
King. But your legs should do it. 

Rosaline. Since you are strangers and come here by 
chance, 219 

We '11 not be nice ; take hands. — We will not dance. 
King. Why take we hands, then ? 
Rosaline. Only to part friends. 

Curtsy, sweet hearts ; and so the measure ends. 

King. More measure of this measure ; be not 

nice. 
Rosaline. We can afford no more at such a price. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 115 

King. Prize you yourselves ; what buys your com- 
pany ? 
Rosaline. Your absence only. 
King. That can never be. 

Rosaline. Then cannot we be bought ; and so, adieu, 
Twice to your visor and half once to you. 

King. If you deny to dance, let 's hold more chat. 
Rosaline. In private, then. 

King. I am best pleased with that. 

\_They converse apart. 

Biron. White-handed mistress one sweet word with 

thee. 231 

Princess. Honey, and milk, and sugar ; there is 

three. 
Biron. Nay then, two treys, and if you grow so nice, 
Metheglin, wort, and malmsey. Well run, dice ! 
There 's half-a-dozen sweets. 

Princess. Seventh sweet, adieu. 

Since you can cog, I '11 play no more with you. 
Biron. One word in secret. 

Princess. Let it not be sweet. 

Biron. Thou griev'st my gall. 
Princess. Gall! bitter. 

Biron. Therefore meet. 

[They converse apart. 
Duniain. Will you vouchsafe with me to change a 

word? 
Maria. Name it. 
Dumain. Fair lady, — 



n6 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Maria. Say you so ? Fair lord, — 

Take that for your fair lady. 

Dumain. Please it you, 241 

As much in private, and I '11 bid adieu. 

\_They converse apart. 
Katherine. What, was your vizard made without a 

tongue ? 
LongaviUe. I know the reason, lady, why you ask. 
Katherine. O, for your reason ! quickly, sir ; I long. 
LongaviUe. You have a double tongue within your 
mask, 
And would afford my speechless vizard half. 

Katherine. Veal, quoth the Dutchman. — Is not veal 

a calf ? 
LongaviUe. A calf, fair lady ! 

Katherine. No, a fair lord calf. 

LongaviUe. Let 's part the word. 
Katherine. No, I '11 not be your half. 

Take all, and wean it ; it may prove an ox. 251 

LongaviUe. Look, how you butt yourself in these 
sharp mocks ! 
Will you give horns, chaste lady ? do not so. 

Katherine. Then die, a calf, before your horns do 

grow. 
LongaviUe. One word in private with you, ere I die. 
Katherine. Bleat softly then ; the butcher hears you 
cry. \_They converse apart. 

Boyet. The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen 
As is the razor's edge invisible, 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 117 

Cutting a smaller hair than may be seen ; 

Above the sense of sense, so sensible 260 

Seemeth their conference ; their conceits have wings 
Fleeter than arrows, bullets, wind, thought, swifter 
things. 
Rosaline. Not one word more, my maids ; break off, 

break off. 
Biron. By heaven, all dry-beaten with pure scoff! 
King. Farewell, mad wenches ; you have simple 

wits. 
Princess. Twenty adieus, my frozen Muscovits. — 

[Exeunt King, Lords, and Blackamoors. 
Are these the breed of wits so wonder'd at ? 

Boyet. Tapers they are, with your sweet breaths 

puffed out. 
Rosaline. Well-liking wits they have ; gross, gross, 

fat, fat. 
Princess. O poverty in wit, kingly-poor flout ! 270 

Will they not, think you, hang themselves to-night ? 

Or ever, but in vizards, show their faces ? 
This pert Biron was out of countenance quite. 

Rosaline. O, they were all in lamentable cases ! 
The king was weeping-ripe for a good word. 

Princess. Biron did swear himself out of all suit. 
Maria. Dumain was at my service, and his sword. 
No point, quoth I ; my servant straight was mute. 
Katherine. Lord Longaville said I came o'er his heart ; 
And trow you what he call'd me ? 
Princess. Qualm, perhaps. 



1 1 8 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Katherine. Yes, in good faith. 

Princess. Go, sickness as thou art ! 

Rosaline. Well, better wits have worn plain statute- 
caps. 282 
But will you hear ? the king is my love sworn. 

Princess. And quick Biron hath plighted faith to me. 

Katherine. And Longaville was for my service born. 

Maria. Dumain is mine, as sure as bark on tree. 

Boyet. Madam — and pretty mistresses — give ear. 
Immediately they will again be here 
In their own shapes ; for it can never be 
They will digest this harsh indignity. 290 

Princess. Will they return ? 

Boyet. They will, they will, God knows, 
And leap for joy, though they are lame with blows. 
Therefore change favours ; and, when they repair, 
Blow like sweet roses in this summer air. 

Princess. How blow ? how blow ? speak to be under- 
stood. 

Boyet. Fair ladies mask'd are roses in their bud ; 
Dismask'd, their damask sweet commixture shown, 
Are angels vailing clouds, or roses blown. 

Princess. Avaunt, perplexity ! What shall we do, 
If they return in their own shapes to woo ? 301 

Rosaline. Good madam, if by me you '11 be ad vis 'd, 
Let 's mock them still, as well known as disguis'd. 
Let us complain to them what fools were here, 
Disguis'd like Muscovites, in shapeless gear, 
And wonder what they were, and to what end 



Scene ii] Love's Labour's Lost 119 

Their shallow shows, and prologue vilely penn'd, 

And their rough carriage so ridiculous, 

Should be presented at our tent to us. 309 

Boyet. Ladies, withdraw ; the gallants are at hand. 

Princess. Whip to our tents, as roes run over land. 
\Exeunt Princess, Rosaline, Katherine, and Maria. 

Re-enter the King, Biron, Longaville, and Dumain, 
in their proper habits 

King. Fair sir, God save you ! Where 's the prin- 



cess 



? 



Boyet. Gone to her tent. Please it your majesty 
Command me any service to her thither ? 

King. That she vouchsafe me audience for one word. 

Boyet. I will ; and so will she, I know, my lord. \Exit. 

Biron. This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons pease, 
And utters it again when God doth please. 
He is wit's pedler, and retails his wares 
At wakes and wassails, meetings, markets, fairs ; 320 
And we that sell by gross, the Lord doth know, 
Have not the grace to grace it with such show. 
This gallant pins the wenches on his sleeve ; 
Had he been Adam, he had tempted Eve. 
He can carve too, and lisp ; why, this is he 
That kiss'd his hand away in courtesy ; 
This is the ape of form, monsieur the nice, 
That, when he plays at table, chides the dice 
In honourable terms ; nay, he can sing 
A mean most meanly ; and in ushering 330 



120 Love's Labour's Lost [Act V 

Mend him who can ? the ladies call him sweet ; 
The stairs, as he treads on them, kiss his feet. 
This is the flower that smiles on every one, 
To show his teeth as white as whale's bone ; 
And consciences that will not die in debt 
Pay him the due of honey-tongu'd Boyet. 

King. A blister on his sweet tongue, with my heart, 
That put Armado's page out of his part ! 

Biron. See where it comes ! — Behaviour, what wert 
thou 
Till this man show'd thee ? and what art thou now ? 340 

Re-enter the Princess, ushered by Boyet ; Rosaline, 
Maria, a?id Katherine 

King. All hail, sweet madame, and fair time of day ! 
Princess. Fair in all hail is foul, as I conceive. 
King. Construe my speeches better, if you may. 
Princess. Then wish me better ; I will give you 

leave. 
King. We came to visit you, and purpose now 
To lead you to our court ; vouchsafe it then. 
Princess. This field shall hold me, and so hold your 

vow; 
Nor God, nor I, delights in perjur'd men. 
King. Rebuke me not for that which you provoke ; 
The virtue of your eye must break my oath. 350 

Princess. You nickname virtue ; vice you should have 

spoke, 
For virtue's office never breaks men's troth. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 121 

Now by my maiden honour, yet as pure 

As the unsullied lily, I protest, 
A world of torments though I should endure, 

I would not yield to be your house's guest, 
So much I hate a breaking cause to be 
Of heavenly oaths, vow'd with integrity. 

King. O, you have liv'd in desolation here, 

Unseen, un visited, much to our shame. 360 

Princess. Not so, my lord ; it is not so, I swear ; 

We have had pastimes here and pleasant game. 
A mess of Russians left us but of late. 

King. How, madam ! Russians ! 

Princess. Ay, in truth, my lord ; 

Trim gallants, full of courtship and of state. 

Rosaline. Madam, speak true. — It is not so, my lord ; 
My lady, to the manner of the days, 
In courtesy gives undeserving praise. 
We four indeed confronted were with four 
In Russian habit ; here they stay'd an hour 370 

And talk'd apace, and in that hour, my lord, 
They did not bless us with one happy word. 
I dare not call them fools ; but this I think, 
When they are thirsty, fools would fain have drink. 

Biron. This jest is dry to me. — Fair gentle sweet, 
Your wit makes wise things foolish. When we greet, 
With eyes best seeing, heaven's fiery eye, 
By light we lose light ; your capacity 
Is of that nature that to your huge store 
Wise things seem foolish and rich things but poor. 380 



122 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Rosaline. This proves you wise and rich, for in my 

eye,— 
Biron. I am a fool, and full of poverty. 
Rosaline. But that you take what doth to you belong, 
It were a fault to snatch words from my tongue. 
Biron. O, I am yours, and all that I possess ! 
Rosaline. All the fool mine ? 

Biron. I cannot give you less. 

Rosaline. Which of the vizards was it that you wore ? 
Biron. Where ? when ? what vizard ? why demand 

you this ? 
Rosaline. There, then, that vizard ; that superfluous 

case 
That hid the worse and show'd the better face. 390 

King. [Aside to Dumain\ We are descried ; they '11 

mock us now downright. 
Dumain. [Aside to King] Let us confess and turn it 

to a jest. 
Princess. Amaz'd, my lord? why looks your highness 

sad ? 
Rosaline. Help, hold his brows ! he '11 swoon ! — 

Why look you pale ? — 
Sea-sick, I think, coming from Muscovy. 
Biron. Thus pour the stars down plagues for perjury. 
Can any face of brass hold longer out ? — 
Here stand I, lady, dart thy skill at me ; 

Bruise me with scorn, confound me with a flout ; 
Thrust thy sharp wit quite through my ignorance ; 400 
Cut me to pieces with thy keen conceit ; 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 1 23 

And I will wish thee never more to dance, 

Nor never more in Russian habit wait. 
O, never will I trust to speeches penn'd, 

Nor to the motion of a* schoolboy's tongue, 
Nor never come in vizard to my friend, 

Nor woo in rhyme, like a blind harper's song ! 
Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, 

Three-pil'd hyperboles, spruce affectation, 
Figures pedantical — these summer-flies 410 

Have blown me full of maggot ostentation. 
I do forswear them, and I here protest, 

By this white glove, — how white the hand, God 
knows ! — 
Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express 'd 

In russet yeas and honest kersey noes ; 
And to begin, wench, — so God help me, la ! — 
My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw. 

Rosaline. Sans sans, I pray you. 

Biron. Yet I have a trick 

Of the old rage ; bear with me, I am sick ; 
I '11 leave it by degrees. Soft, let us see : 420 

Write, ' Lord have mercy on us ' on those three ; 
They are infected, in their hearts it lies ; 
They have the plague, and caught it of your eyes ; 
These lords are visited ; you are not free, 
For the Lord's tokens on you do I see. 

Princess. No, they are free that gave these tokens to 
us. 

Biron. Our states are forfeit ; seek not to undo us. 



1 24 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act v 

Rosaline. It is not so ; for how can this be true, 
That you stand forfeit, being those that sue ? 

Biron. Peace ! for I will not have to do with you. 

Rosaline. Nor shall not, if I do as I intend. 431 

Biron. Speak for yourselves ; my wit is at an end. 

King. Teach us, sweet madam, for our rude trans- 
gression 
Some fair excuse. 

Princess. The fairest is confession. 

Were not you here but even now disguis 'd ? 

King. Madam, I was. 

Princess. And were you well advis'd ? 

King. I was, fair madam. 

Princess. When you then were here, 

What did you whisper in your lady's ear ? 

King. That more than all the world I did respect 
her. 

Princess. When she shall challenge this, you will re- 
ject her. 440 

King. Upon mine honour, no. 

Princess. Peace, peace ! forbear ; 

Your oath once broke, you force not to forswear. 

King. Despise me when I break this oath of mine. 

Princess. I will ; and therefore keep it. — Rosaline, 
What did the Russian whisper in your ear ? 

Rosaline. Madam, he swore that he did hold me dear 
As precious eyesight, and did value me 
Above this world ; adding thereto moreover 
That he would wed me or else die my lover. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 125 

Princess. God give thee joy of him ! the noble lord 
Most honourably doth uphold his word. 451 

King. What mean you, madam ? by my life, my 
troth, 
I never swore this lady such an oath. 

Rosaline. By heaven, you did, and to confirm it plain, 
You gave me this ; but take it, sir, again. 

King. My faith and this the princess I did give ; 
I knew her by this jewel on her sleeve. 

Princess. Pardon me, sir, this jewel did she wear ; 
And Lord Biron, I thank him, is my dear. — 
What, will you have me, or your pearl again ? 460 

Biron. Neither of either ; I remit both twain. — 
I see the trick on 't ; here was a consent, 
Knowing aforehand of our merriment, 
To dash it like a Christmas comedy. 
Some carry-tale, some please-man, some slight zany, 
Some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick, 
That smiles his cheek in years and knows the trick 
To make my lady laugh when she 's dispos'd, 
Told our intents before ; which once disclos'd, 
The ladies did change favours, and then we, 470 

Following the signs, woo'd but the sign of she. 
Now, to our perjury to add more terror, 
We are again forsworn, — in will, and error. 
Much upon this it is. — And might not you \_To Boyet. 
Forestall our sport, to make us thus untrue ? 
Do not you know my lady's foot by the squire, 

And laugh upon the apple of her eye ? 



126 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

And stand between her back, sir, and the fire, 

Holding a trencher, jesting merrily ? 
You put our page out ; go, you are allow'd ; 480 

Die when you will, a smock shall be your shroud. 
You leer upon me, do you ? there 's an eye 
Wounds like a leaden sword. 

Boyet. Full merrily 

Hath this brave manage, this career, been run. 

Biron. Lo, he is tilting straight ! Peace ! I have 
done. — 

Enter Costard 

Welcome, pure wit ! thou partest a fair fray. 

Costard. O Lord, sir, they would know 
Whether the three Worthies shall come in or no. 

Biron. What, are there but three ? 

Costard. No, sir ; but it is vara fine, 

For every one pursents three. 

Biron. And three times thrice is nine. 

Costard. Not so, sir ; under correction, sir ; I hope it 

is not so. 491 

You cannot beg us, sir, I can assure you, sir, we know 

what we know ; 
I hope, sir, three times thrice, sir, — 

Biron. Is not nine. 

Costard. Under correction, sir, we know where- 
until it doth amount. 

Biron. By Jove, I always took three threes for 
nine. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 127 

Costard. O Lord, sir, it were pity you should get 
your living by reckoning, sir. 

Biron. How much is it ? 500 

Costard. O Lord, sir, the parties themselves, the 
actors, sir, will show whereuntil it doth amount ; for 
mine own part, I am, as they say, but to pursent one 
man, — e'en one poor man — Pompion the Great, 
sir. 

Biron. Art thou one of the Worthies ? 

Costard. It pleased them to think me worthy of 
Pompion the Great ; for mine own part, I know not 
the degree of the Worthy, but I am to stand for him. 

Biron. Go, bid them prepare. 510 

Costard. We will turn it finely off, sir ; we will take 
some care. \Exit. 

King. Biron, they will shame us ; let them not ap- 
proach. 

Biron. We are shame-proof, my lord ; and 't is some 
policy 
To have one show worse than the king's and his com- 
pany. 

King. I say they shall not come. 

Princess. Nay, my good lord, let me o'errule you 
now ; 
That sport best pleases that dost least know how. 
Where zeal strives to content, and the contents 
Dies in the zeal of that which it presents, 
Their form confounded makes most form in mirth, 520 
When great things labouring perish in their birth. 



128 Love's Labour's Lost [Act V 

Biron. A right description of our sport, my lord. 
Enter Arm ado 

Armado. Anointed, I implore so much expense of 
thy royal sweet breath as will utter a brace of words. 

[ Converses apart with the King and delivers him 
a paper. 

Princess. Doth this man serve God ? 

Biron. Why ask you ? 

Princess. He speaks not like a man of God's 
making. 528 

Armado. That is all one, my fair, sweet, honey 
monarch, for, I protest, the schoolmaster is exceed- 
ing fantastical, too-too vain, too-too vain ; but we will 
put it, as they say, to fortuna de la guerra. I wish 
you the peace of mind, most royal couplement ! [Exit. 

Xing. Here is like to be a good presence of 
Worthies. He presents Hector of Troy ; the swain, 
Pompey the Great ; the parish curate, Alexander ; 
Armado's page, Hercules ; the pedant, Judas Macca- 
baeus: 

And if these four Worthies in their first show thrive, 
These four will change habits, and present the other five. 

Biron. There is five in the first show. 541 

. King. You are deceived ; 't is not so. 

Biron. The pedant, the braggart, the hedge-priest, 
the fool, and the boy. — 

Abate throw at novum, and the whole world again 
Cannot prick out five such, take each one in his vein. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 129 

King. The ship is under sail, and here she comes 
amain. 

Enter Costard, for Pompey 

Costard. I Pompey am, — 

Boyet. You lie, you are not he. 

Costard. I Pompey am, — 

Boyet. With libbard's head on knee. 

Biron. Well said, old mocker ; I must needs be 

friends with thee. 
Costard. I Pompey am, Pompey surnam'd the Big, — 551 

Dumain. The Great. 
Costard. It is Great, sir : — 

Pompey surnam'd the Great, 
That oft in field, with targe and shield, did make my foe to 

sweat ; 
And travelling along this coast, I here am come by chance, 
And lay my arms before the legs of this sweet lass of France. — 
If your ladyship would say, * Thanks, Pompey,' I had 
done. 
Princess. Great thanks, great Pompey. 
Costard. 'T is not so much worth ; but I hope I 
was perfect. I made a little fault in ' Great.' 

Biron. My hat to a halfpenny, Pompey proves 
the best Worthy. 562 

Enter Sir Nathaniel, for Alexander 

Nathaniel. When in the world I liv'd, I was the world's 
commander ; 
love's labour — 9 



130 Love's Labour's Lost [Act.v 

By east, west, north, and south, I spread my conquering might ; 
My scutcheon plain declares that I am Alisander, — 

Boyet. Your nose says, no, you are not ; for it 
stands too right. 

Biron, Your nose smells no in this, most tender- 
smelling knight. 

Princess. The conqueror is dismay 'd. — Proceed, 
good Alexander. 

Nathaniel. When in the world I liv'd, I was the world's com- 
mander, — 

Boyet. Most true, 't is right ; you were so, Alisander. 

Biron. Pompey the Great, — 571 

Costard. Your servant, and Costard. 

Biron. Take away the conqueror, take away Ali- 
sander. 

Costard. [To Sir Nathaniel~\ O, sir, you have 
overthrown Alisander the conqueror ! You will be 
scraped out of the painted cloth for this ; your lion, 
that holds his poll-axe sitting on a close-stool, will be 
given to Ajax ; he will be the ninth Worthy. A con- 
queror, and afeard to speak ! run away for shame, 580 
Alisander. — [Nathaniel retires.'] There, an 't shall 
please you ; a foolish mild man, an honest man, look 
you, and soon dashed. He is a marvellous good 
neighbour, faith, and a very good bowler ; but, for 
Alisander, — alas, you see how 't is, — a little o'er- 
parted. — But there are Worthies a-coming will 
speak their mind in some other sort. 

Princess. Stand aside, good Pompey. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 131 

Enter Holofernes, for Judas ; and MoTH,/<?r Hercules 

Holofernes . Great Hercules is presented by this imp, 

Whose club kill'd Cerberus, that three-headed canus ; 590 
And when he was a babe, a child, a shrimp, 

Thus did he strangle serpents in his manus. 
Quoniam he seemeth in minority, 
Ergo I come with this apology. — 
Keep some state in thy exit, and vanish. — [Moth retires. 
Judas I am, — 
Dumain. A Judas ! 
Holofernes. Not Iscariot, sir. — 

Judas I am, ycliped Maccabaeus. 
Dumain. Judas Maccabseus dipt is plain Judas. 600 
Biron. A kissing traitor. — How art thou prov'd 

Judas ? 
Holofernes. Judas I am, — 
Dumain. The more shame for you, Judas. 
Holofernes. What mean you, sir ? 
Boyet. To make Judas hang himself. 
Holofernes. Begin, sir ; you are my elder. 
Biron. Well follow'd ; Judas was hang'd on an elder. 
Holofernes. I will not be put out of countenance. 
Biron. Because thou hast no face. 
Holofernes. What is this ? 610 

Boyet. A cittern-head. 
Dumain. The head of a bodkin. 
Biron. A death's face in a ring. 
Longaville. The face of an old Roman coin, scarce 
seen. 



132 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Boyet. The pommel of Caesar's falchion. 

Dumain. The carved-bone face on a flask. 

Biron. Saint George's half-cheek in a brooch. 

Dumain. Ay, and in a brooch of lead. 

Biron. Ay, and worn in the cap of a tooth-drawer. — 
And now forward; for we have put thee in counte- 
nance. 620 

Holof ernes. You have put me out of countenance. 

Biron. False ; we have given thee faces. 

Holofernes. But you have out-faced them all. 

Biron. An thou wert a lion, we would do so. 

Boyet. Therefore, as he is an ass, let him go. — 
And so adieu, sweet Jude ! nay, why dost thou stay ? 

Dumain, For the latter end of his name, 

Biron. For the ass to the Jude ? give it him. — 
Jud-as, away ! 

Holofernes. This is not generous, not gentle, not 
humble. 

Boyet. A light for Monsieur Judas ! it grows dark, 
he may stumble. [Holofernes retires. 

Princess. Alas, poor Maccabaeus, how hath he been 
baited ! 631 

Enter Armado,/<?^ Hector 

Biron. Hide thy head, Achilles ; here comes 
Hector in arms. 

Dumain. Though thy mocks come home by me, 
I will now be merry. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 133 

King. Hector was but a Trojan in respect of this. 

Boyet. But is this Hector ? 

King. I think Hector was not so clean-timbered. 

Longaville. His leg is too big for Hector's. 

Dumain. More calf, certain. 640 

Boyet. No ; he is best indued in the small. 

Biron. This cannot be Hector. 

Dumain. He 's a god or a painter ; for he makes 
faces. 

Armado. The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty, 
Gave Hector a gift, — 

Dumain. A gilt nutmeg. 

Biron. A lemon. 

Longaville. Stuck with cloves. 

Dumain. No, cloven. 650 

Armado. Peace ! — 
The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty, 

Gave Hector a gift, the heir of Ilion ; 
A man so breath' d that certain he would fight ye 

From morn till night, out of his pavilion. 
I am that flower, — 

Dumain. That mint. 

Longaville. That columbine. 

Armado. Sweet Lord Longaville, rein thy tongue. 

Longaville. I must rather give it the rein, for it runs 
against Hector. 

Dumain. Ay, and Hector 's a greyhound. 660 

Armado. The sweet war-man is dead and rotten. 
Sweet chucks, beat not the bones of the buried ; 
when he breathed, he was a man. But I will for- 



134 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

ward with my device. — [To the Princess] Sweet 
royalty, bestow on me the sense of hearing. 

Princess. Speak, brave Hector ; we are much de- 
lighted. 

Armado. I do adore thy sweet grace's slipper. 

Boyet. [Aside to Dumain] Loves her by the foot. 

Dumain. [Aside to Boyet] He may not by the yard. 

Armado. This Hector far surmounted Hannibal, — 671 

Costard. The party is gone, fellow Hector, she is 
gone ; she is two months on her way. 

Armado. What meanest thou ? 

Costard. Faith, unless you play the honest Tro- 
jan, the poor wench is cast away ; she 's quick. 

Ar??iado. Dost thou infamonize me among poten- 
tates ? t*hou shalt die. 

Costard. Then shall Hector be whipped for Jaque- 
netta that is quick by him, and hanged for Pompey 
that is dead by him. 681 

Dumain. Most rare Pompey ! 

Boyet. Renowned Pompey! 

Biron. Greater than great, — great, great, great 
Pompey ! Pompey the Huge ! 

Dumain. Hector trembles. 

Biron. Pompey is moved. — More Ates ! stir 
them on ! stir them on ! , 

Dumain. Hector will challenge him. 

Biron. Ay, if he have no more man's blood in 's 
belly than will sup a flea. 691 

Armado. By the north pole, I do challenge thee. 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 135 

Costard. I will not fight with a pole, like a north- 
ern man ; I '11 slash, I '11 do it by the sword. I pray 
you, let me borrow my arms again. 

Dumain. Room for the incensed Worthies. 

Costard. I '11 do it in my shirt. 

Dumain. Most resolute Pompey ! 

Moth. Master, let me take you a buttonhole lower. 
Do you see Pompey is uncasing for the combat? 
What mean you? You will lose your reputation. 

Armado. Gentlemen and soldiers, pardon me ; I 
will not combat in my shirt. 703 

Dumain. You may not deny it ; Pompey hath 
made the challenge. 

Armado. Sweet bloods, I both may and will. 

Biron. What reason have you for 't ? 

Armado. The naked truth of it is, I have no 
shirt ; I go woolward for penance. 

Boyet. True, and it was enjoined him in Rome for 
want of linen ; since when, I '11 be sworn, he wore 
none but a dishclout of Jaquenetta's, and that he 
wears next his heart for a favour. 713 

Enter Mercade 

Mercade. God save you, madam ! 

Princess. Welcome, Mercade, 
But that thou interrupt'st our merriment. 

Mercade. I am sorry, madam, for the news I bring 
Is heavy in my tongue. The king your father — 

Princess, Dead, for my life ! 



136 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Me r cade. Even so ; my tale is told. 

Biron. Worthies, away ! the scene begins to cloud. 720 

Armado. For mine own part, I breathe. I have 
seen the day of wrong through the little hole of dis- 
cretion, and I will right myself like a soldier. 

\_Exeuni Worthies. 

King. How fares your majesty ? 

Princess. Boyet, prepare ; I will away to-night. 

King. Madam, not so ; I do beseech you, stay. 

Princess. Prepare, I say. — I thank you gracious 
lords, 
For all your fair endeavours, and entreat, 
Out of a new-sad soul, that you vouchsafe 
In your rich wisdom to excuse or hide 730 

The liberal opposition of our spirits ; 
If over-boldly we have borne ourselves 
In the converse of breath, your gentleness 
Was guilty of it. — Farewell, worthy lord ! 
A heavy heart bears not a humble tongue. 
Excuse me so, coming too short of thanks 
For my great suit so easily obtain'd. 

King. The extreme parts of time extremely forms 
All causes to the purpose of his speed, 
And often at his very loose decides 740 

That which long process could not arbitrate ; 
And though the mourning brow of progeny 
Forbid the smiling courtesy of love 
The holy suit which fain it would convince, 
Yet, since love's argument was first on foot, 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 137 

Let not the cloud of sorrow justle it 

From what it purposed, since to wail friends lost 

Is not by much so wholesome-profitable 

As to rejoice at friends but newly found. 

Princess. I understand you not ; my griefs are 
dull. 750 

Biron. Honest plain words best pierce the ear of 
grief ; 
And by these badges understand the king. 
For your fair sakes have we neglected time, 
Play'd foul play with our oaths. Your beauty, ladies, 
Hath much deform'd us, fashioning our humours 
Even to the opposed end of our intents ; 
And what in us hath seem'd ridiculous, — 
As love is full of unbefitting strains, 
All wanton as a child, skipping and vain, 
Form'd by the eye, and therefore, like the eye, 760 

Full of strange shapes, of habits, and of forms, 
Varying in subjects as the eye doth roll 
To every varied object in his glance, — 
Which parti-coated presence of loose love 
Put on by us, if, in your heavenly eyes, 
Have misbecom'd our oaths and gravities, 
Those heavenly eyes that look into these faults 
Suggested us to make. Therefore, ladies, 
Our love being yours, the error that love makes 
Is likewise yours. We to ourselves prove false, 770 

By being once false for ever to be true 
To those that make us both, — fair ladies, you ; 



138 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

And even that falsehood, in itself a sin, 
Thus purines itself and turns to grace. 

Princess. We have receiv'd your letters full of love, 
Your favours, the ambassadors of love, 
And in our maiden council rated them 
At courtship, pleasant jest, and courtesy, 
As bombast and as lining to the time ; 
But more devout than this in our respects 780 

Have we not been, and therefore met your loves 
In their own fashion, like a merriment. 

Dumain. Our letters, madam, show'd much more 
than jest. 

Longaville. So did our looks. 

Rosaline. We did not quote them so. 

King. Now, at the latest minute of the hour, 
Grant us your loves. 

Princess. A time, methinks, too short 

To make a world-without-end bargain in. 
No, no, my lord, your grace is perjur'd much, 
Full of dear guiltiness ; and therefore this : 
If for my love — as there is no such cause — 790 

You will do aught, this shall you do for me : 
Your oath I will not trust, but go with speed 
To some forlorn and naked hermitage, 
Remote from all the pleasures of the world ; 
There stay until the twelve celestial signs 
Have brought about the annual reckoning. 
If this austere insociable life 
Change not your offer made in heat of blood, 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 139 

If frosts and fasts, hard lodging and thin weeds 

Nip not the gaudy blossoms of your love 800 

But that it bear this trial and last love, 

Then, at the expiration of the year, 

Come challenge me, challenge me by these deserts, 

And, by this virgin palm now kissing thine, 

I will be thine, and till that instant shut 

My woeful self up in a mourning house, 

Raining the tears of lamentation 

For the remembrance of my father's death. 

If this thou do deny, let our hands part, 

Neither intitled in the other's heart. 810 

King. If this, or more than this, I would deny, 

To natter up these powers of mine with rest, 
The sudden hand of death close up mine eye ! 

Hence ever then my heart is in thy breast. 

\_Biron. And what to me, my love ? and what to me ? 

Rosaline. You must be purged too, your sins are 
rank, 
You are attaint with faults and perjury ; 
Therefore if you my favour mean to get, 
A twelvemonth shall you spend, and never rest, 
But seek the weary beds of people sick.] 820 

Dumain. But what to me, my love ? but what to me ? 
A wife ? 

Katherine. A beard, fair health, and honesty ; 
With three-fold love I wish you all these three. 

Dumain. O, shall I say, I thank you, gentle wife? 

Katherine. Not so, my lord ; a twelvemonth and a day 



140 Love's Labour 's Lost [Act V 

I '11 mark no words that smooth-fac'd wooers say. 
Come when the king doth to my lady come ; 
Then, if I have much love, I '11 give you some. 

Dumain. I '11 serve thee true and faithfully till then. 

Katherine. Yet swear not, lest ye be forsworn again. 

Longavitte. What says Maria ? 

Maria. At the twelvemonth's end 

I '11 change my black gown for a faithful friend. 832 

Longaville. I '11 stay with patience ; but the time is 
long. 

Maria. The liker you ; few taller are so young. 

Biron. Studies my lady ? mistress, look on me ; 
Behold the window of my heart, mine eye, 
What humble suit attends thy answer there. 
Impose some service on me for thy love. 

Rosaline. Oft have I heard of you, my Lord Biron, 
Before I saw you ; and the world's large tongue 840 
Proclaims you for a man replete with mocks, 
Full of comparisons and wounding flouts, 
Which you on all estates will execute 
That lie within the mercy of your wit. 
To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain, 
And therewithal to win me, if you please, — 
Without the which I am not to be won, — 
You shall this twelvemonth term from day to day 
Visit the speechless sick, and still converse 
With groaning wretches ; and your task shall be, 850 
With all the fierce endeavour of your wit 
To enforce the pained impotent to smile. 



Scene II] Love's Labour 's Lost 141 

Biron. To move wild laughter in the throat of 
death ? 
It cannot be, it is impossible ; 
Mirth cannot move a soul in agony. 

Rosaline. Why, that 's the way to choke a gibing 
spirit, 
Whose influence is begot of that loose grace 
Which shallow laughing hearers give to fools. 
A jest's prosperity lies in the ear 

Of him that hears it, never in the tongue 860 

Of him that makes it. Then, if sickly ears, 
Deaf'd with the clamours of their own dear groans, 
Will hear your idle scorns, continue them, 
And I will have you and that fault withal ; 
But if they will not, throw away that spirit, 
And I shall find you empty of that fault, 
Right joyful of your reformation. 

Biron. A twelvemonth ! well ; befall what will be- 
fall, 
I '11 jest a twelvemonth in an hospital. 

Princess. [To the King] Ay, sweet my lord ; and so I 
take my leave. 870 

King. No, madam ; we will bring you on your 
way. 

Biron. Our wooing doth not end like an old play, 
Jack hath not Jill ; these ladies' courtesy 
Might well have made our sport a comedy. 

King. Come, sir, it wants a twelvemonth and a day, 
And then 't will end. 



142 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Biron. That 's too long for a play. 

Re-enter Armado 

Armado. Sweet majesty, vouchsafe me, — 

Princess. Was not that Hector ? 

Dumain. The worthy knight of Troy. 879 

Armado. I will kiss thy royal finger, and take 
leave. I am a votary ; I have vowed to Jaquenetta 
to hold the plough for her sweet love three years. 
But, most esteemed greatness, will you hear the dia- 
logue that the two learned men have compiled in 
praise of the owl and the cuckoo ? it should have 
followed in the end of our show. 

King. Call them forth quickly ; we will do so. 

Armado. Holla ! approach. — 

Re-enter Holofernes, Nathaniel, Moth, Costard, 

and others 

This side is Hiems, Winter, this Ver, the Spring ; 
the one maintained by the owl, the other by the 
cuckoo. — Ver, begin. 891 

Song 

Spring. When daisies pied and violets blue, 
And lady-smocks all silver-white ; 
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue 

Do paint the meadows with delight. 
The cuckoo then, on every tree, 
Mocks married men, for thus sings he, 
Cuckoo ; 



Scene II] Love's Labour's Lost 143 

Cuckoo, cuckoo, — O wo7'd of fear, 

Unpleasing to a married ear I 900 

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws, 

And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks, 
When turtles tread, and rooks and daws, 

And maidens bleach their summer smocks, 
The cuckoo then, on every tree, 
Mocks married men, for thus sings he, 

Cuckoo ; 
Cuckoo, cuckoo, — O word of fear, 
• Unpleasing to a married ear / 909 

Winter. When icicles hang by the wall, 

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, 
And Tom bears 'logs into the hall, 

And milk comes frozen home in pail, 
When blood is nipped and ways be foul, 
Then nightly sings the staring owl, 

Tu-whoo ; 
Tu-whit, tu-whoo, a merry note, 
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. 918 

When all aloud the wind doth blow, 
And coughing drowns the parson's saw, 

And birds sit brooding in the snow, 
And Marian's nose looks red and raw, 

When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl, 

Then nightly sings the staring owl, 
Tu-whoo ; 



144 Love's Labour's Lost [Act v 

Tu-whit, tu-whoo, a merry note, 

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. 927 

Armado. The words of Mercury are harsh after 
the songs of Apollo. — You that way, — we this way. 

\Exeunt. 



NOTES 




Russian Costumes of the Period 



NOTES 



Introduction 



The Metre of the Play. — It should be understood at the 
outset that metre, or the mechanism of verse, is something alto- 
gether distinct from the music of verse. The one is matter of rule, 
the other of taste and feeling. Music is not an absolute necessity 
of verse ; the metrical form is a necessity, being that which con- 
stitutes the verse. 

The plays of Shakespeare (with the exception of rhymed pas- 
sages, and of occasional songs and interludes) are all in unrhymed 
or blank verse ; and the normal form of this blank verse is illus- 
trated by i. i. 19 of the present play : "Your oaths are pass'd ; 
and now subscribe your names." 

This line, it will be seen, consists of ten syllables, with the even 
syllables (2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th) accented, the odd syllables 

H7 



148 Notes 

(1st, 3d, etc.) being unaccented. Theoretically, it is made up of 
five feet of two syllables each, with the accent on the second sylla- 
ble. Such a foot is called an iambus (plural, iambuses, or the Latin 
iambi), and the form of verse is called iambic. 

This fundamental law of Shakespeare's verse is subject to certain 
modifications, the most important of which are as follows : — 

1. After the tenth syllable an unaccented syllable (or even two 
such syllables) may be added, forming what is sometimes called a 
female line; as in i. 1. 17: "My fellow scholars, and to keep 
those statutes." The rhythm is complete with the first syllable of 
statutes, the second being an extra eleventh syllable. See also 
lines 94, 95, 96, 97, etc. 

2. The accent in any part of the verse may be shifted from an 
even to an odd syllable; as in i. 1. 48: "Not to see ladies, study, 
fast, not sleep ! " and 55 : " What is the end of study ? let me 
know." In both lines the accent is shifted from the second to the 
first syllable. This change occurs very rarely in the tenth syllable, 
and seldom in the fourth ; and it is not allowable in two succes- 
sive accented syllables. 

3. An extra unaccented syllable may occur in any part of the 
line ; as in i. 1.5 and 109. In 5 the first syllable of endeavour is 
superfluous ; and in 109 that of unlock. In line 140 (a female 
line) the first syllable of admired (or the word the) is superfluous. 

4. Any unaccented syllable, occurring in an even place immedi- 
ately before or after an even syllable which is properly accented, is 
reckoned as accented for the purposes of the verse ; as, for instance, 
in lines 2 and 4. In 2 the last syllable of registered, and in 4 that 
of cormorant, are metrically equivalent to accented syllables ; and 
so with the last syllable of eternity in 7 and of conquerors in 8. 

5. In many instances in Shakespeare words must be lengthened 
in order to fill out the rhythm : — 

(«) In a large class of words in which e or i is followed by an- 
other vowel, the e or i is made a separate syllable ; as ocean, opin- 
ion, soldier, patience, partial, marriage, etc. For instance, line 9 



Notes 149 

of the first scene ("That was against your own affections") 
appears to have only nine syllables, but affections is a quadri- 
syllable, like conclusion in v. 2. 41. In v. 2. 807 lamentations has 
five syllables ; and the same is true of reformation in v. 2. 867. 
This lengthening occurs most frequently at the end of the line, 
but there are few instances of it in this play. 

(b) Many monosyllables ending in r, re, rs, res, preceded by a 
long vowel or diphthong, are often made dissyllables ; as fare, fear, 
dear, fire, hair, hour (see on ii. I. 68), your, etc. If the word is 
repeated in a verse it is often both monosyllable and dissyllable ; 
as in M. of V. iii. 2. 20 : " And so, though yours, not yours. 
Prove it so," where either yours (preferably the first) is a dissyl- 
lable, the other being a monosyllable. In J. C. iii. 1. 172: "As 
fire drives out fire, so pity, pity," the first fire is a dissyllable. 

(f) Words containing / or r, preceded by another consonant, 
are often pronounced as if a vowel came between or after the con- 
sonants ; as in T. of S. ii. 1. 158 : " While she did call me rascal 
fiddler" [fiddl(e)er] ; All's Well, iii. 5. 43 : "If you will tarry, 
holy pilgrim" [pilg(e)rim] ; C. of E. v. 1. 360 : "These are the 
parents of these children" (childeren, the original form of the 
word) ; W. T. iv. 4. 76 : "Grace and remembrance [rememb(e)- 
rance] be to you both ! " etc. 

(d) Monosyllabic exclamations (ay, O, yea, nay, hail, etc.) and 
monosyllables otherwise emphasized are similarly lengthened ; 
also certain longer words ; as commandement in M. of V. (iv. 1. 
451); safety (trisyllable) in Ham. i. 3. 21 ; business (trisyllable, 
as originally pronounced) in J. C. iv. 1. 22: "To groan and 
sweat under the business " (so in several other passages) ; and 
other words mentioned in the notes to the plays in which they 
occur. In v. 2. 334 of this play whale's is a dissyllable (see note). 

6. Words are also contracted for metrical reasons, like plurals 
and possessives ending in a sibilant, as balance, horse (for horses 
and horse's), princess, sense, marriage (plural and possessive), 
image, etc. So with many adjectives in the superlative (like 



150 Notes 



stricfst in i. I. 1 1 7, sternest, kindest, secret' st, etc.), and certain 
other words. 

7. The accent of words is also varied in many instances for met- 
rical reasons. Thus we find both revenue and revenue in the first 
scene of M. N. D. (lines 6 and 158), cdnfine (noun) and confine, 
solemnize (see on ii. 1. 42) and sdlemnize, cdmplete (see on i. 1. 
136) and complete, extreme (see on v. 2. 738) and extreme, pursue 
and pursue, distinct and distinct, etc. 

These instances of variable accent must not be confounded with 
those in which words were uniformly accented differently in the 
time of Shakespeare; like aspect, impdrtune, sepulchre (verb), 
per sever (never persevere), perseverance, rheumatic, triumphing 
(see on iv. 3. 34), etc. 

8. Alexandrines, or verses of twelve syllables, with six accents, 
occur here and there in the plays. They must not be confounded 
with female lines with two extra syllables (see on I above) or with 
other lines in which two extra unaccented syllables may occur. 

9. Incomplete verses, of one or more syllables, are scattered 
through the plays. See ii. 1. 55, 89, 105, etc. 

10. Doggerel measure is used in the very earliest comedies 
(the present play and C. of E. in particular) in the mouths of comic 
characters (and others to some extent in this play), but never any- 
where in plays written after 1598. 

11. Rhyme occurs frequently in the early plays, but diminishes 
with comparative regularity from that period until the latest. 
Thus, in this play there are about 1100 rhyming verses (more than 
one-third of the whole number) , in M. N. D. about 900, in Rich- 
ard II. and R. and J. about 500 each, while in Cor. and A. and C. 
there are only about 40 each, in Temp, only two, and in W. T. none 
at all, except in the chorus introducing act iv. Songs, interludes, 
and other matter not in ten-syllable measure (or in doggerel) are 
not included in this enumeration. 

Alternate rhymes are found only in the plays written before 1599 
or 1600. They are very frequent in the present play; as in i. 1. 



Notes 151 



80-91, 100-107, 112-115, 131-138, etc. In M. of V. there are only 
four lines at the end of iii. 2. In Much Ado and A. Y. L., we also 
find a few lines, but none at all in subsequent plays. 

Rhymed couplets, or " rhyme-tags," are often found at the end of 
scenes ; as in 4 of the 9 scenes of the present play. In Ham. 
14 out of 20 scenes, and in Macb. 21 out of 28, have such "tags ; " 
but in the latest plays they are not so frequent. In Temp., for 
instance, there is but one, and in W. T. none. 

12. In this edition of Shakespeare, the final -ed of past tenses 
and participles in verse is printed -d when the word is to be pro- 
nounced in the ordinary way ; as in passed, line 19, and resolved, 
line 24, of the first scene. But when the metre requires that the 
-ed be made a separate syllable, the e is retained; as in enrolled, 
line 38, where the word is a trisyllable. The only variation from 
this rule is in verbs like cry, die, sue, etc., the -ed of which is very 
rarely, if ever, made a separate syllable. 

Shakespeare's Use of Verse and Prose in the Plays. — 
This is a subject to which the critics have given very little attention, 
but it is an interesting study. In this play we find scenes entirely 
in verse or in prose (except for a little doggerel), and others in 
which the two are mixed. In general, we may say that verse is 
used for what is distinctly poetical, and prose for what is not poeti- 
cal. The distinction, however, is not so clearly marked in the 
earlier as in the later plays. The second scene of M. of V., for 
instance, is in prose, because Portia and Nerissa are talking about 
the suitors in a familiar and playful way; but in T. G. of V., 
where Julia and Lucetta are discussing the suitors of the former 
in much the same fashion, the scene is in verse. Dowden, com- 
menting on Rich. II, remarks : " Had Shakespeare written the 
play a few years later, we may be certain that the gardener and 
his servants (iii. 4) would not have uttered stately speeches in 
verse, but would have spoken homely prose, and that humour 
would have mingled with the pathos of the scene. The same re- 
mark may be made with reference to the subsequent scene (v. 5) 



152 Notes 



in which his groom visits the dethroned king in the Tower." 
Comic characters and those in low life generally speak in prose in 
the later plays, as Dowden intimates, but in the very earliest ones 
doggerel verse is much used instead. See on 10 above. 

The change from prose to verse is well illustrated in the third 
scene of M. of V. It begins with plain prosaic talk about a busi- 
ness matter ; but when Antonio enters, it rises at once to the higher 
level of poetry. The sight of Antonio reminds Shylock of his hatred 
of the Merchant, and the passion expresses itself in verse, the ver- 
nacular tongue of poetry. 

The reasons for the choice of prose or verse are not always so 
clear as in this instance. We are seldom puzzled to explain the 
prose, but not unfrequently we meet with verse where we might 
expect prose. As Professor Corson remarks (Introduction to Shake- 
speare, 1889), "Shakespeare adopted verse as the general tenor of 
his language, and therefore expressed much in verse that is within 
the capabilities of prose ; in other words, his verse constantly en- 
croaches upon the domain of prose, but his prose can never be said 
to encroach upon the domain of verse." If in rare instances we 
think we find exceptions to this latter statement, and prose actually 
seems to usurp the place of verse, I believe that careful study of the 
passage will prove the supposed exception to be apparent rather 
than real. 

Some Books for Teachers and Students. — A few out of the 
many books that might be commended to the teacher and the criti- 
cal student are the following: Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines of the 
Life of Shakespeare (7th ed. 1887) ; Sidney Lee's Life of Shake- 
speare (1898; for ordinary students the abridged ed. of 1899 is 
preferable) ; Rolfe's Life of Shakespeare (1904) ; Schmidt's 
Shakespeare Lexicon (3d ed. 1902) ; Littledale's ed. of Dyce's 
Glossary (1902) ; Bartlett's Concordance to Shakespeare (1895) '■> 
Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (1873) ; Furness's "New Vari- 
orum " ed. of L. L. L. (1904; encyclopsedic and exhaustive); 
Dowden's Shakspere : His Mind and Art (American ed. 1881) ; 



Notes 153 



Hudson's Life, Art, and Characters of Shakespeare (revised ed. 
1882) ; Mrs. Jameson's Characteristics of Women (several eds.; 
some with the title, Shakespeare Heroines) ; Ten Brink's Five Lec- 
tures on Shakespeare (1895); Boas's Shakespeare and His Prede- 
cessors (1895); Dyer's Folk-lore of Shakespeare (American ed. 
1884); Gervinus's Shakespeare Commentaries (Bunnett's transla- 
tion, 1875); Wordsworth's Shakespeare's /knowledge of the Bible 
(3d ed. 1880); Elson's Shakespeare in Music (1901). 

Some of the above books will be useful to all readers who are 
interested in special subjects or in general criticism of Shakespeare. 
Among those which are better suited to the needs of ordinary 
readers and students, the following may be mentioned : Mabie's 
William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist, and Man (1900); Dow- 
den's Shakspere Primer (1877; small but invaluable); Rolfe's 
Shakespeare the Boy (1896 ; not a mere juvenile book, but use- 
ful for general reference on the home and school life, the 
games and sports, the manners, customs, and folk-lore of the 
poet's time) ; Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome (for readers 
and students who may need information on mythological allusions 
not explained in the notes). 

H. Snowden "Ward's Shakespeare" 1 s Town and Times (2d ed. 
1902) and John Leyland's Shakespeare Country (2d ed. 1903) are 
copiously illustrated books (yet inexpensive) which may be 
particularly commended for school libraries and the general 
reader. 

Abbreviations in the Notes. — The abbreviations of the names 
of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood : as T. N. for 
Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Hen. VL. for The Third 
Part of King Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to The Passionate 
Pilgrim ; V. and A. to Venus and Adonis ; L. C. to Lover's Com- 
plaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 

Other abbreviations that hardly need explanation are Cf {confer, 
compare), Fol. (following), Ld. {idem, the same), and Prol. (pro- 
logue). The numbers of the lines in the references (except for the 



1 54 Notes 



present play) are those of the " Globe " edition (the cheapest and 
best edition of Shakespeare in one compact volume), which is now 
generally accepted as the standard for line-numbers in works of ref- 
erence (Schmidt's Lexicon, Abbott's Grammar, Dowden's Primer, 
the publications of the New Shakspere Society, etc.). 

The Title of the Play. — Mason says : " I believe the title 
of this play should be Love's Labours Lost" and Dr. Furnivall 
agrees with him. The title-pages of the quartos give " Loues 
labors lost " and " Loues Labours lost ; " but the running title of the 
quartos and ist and 2d folios is " Loues Labour's Lost," which is 
clearly a contraction of "Love's Labour is Lost." In the early 
eds. the possessive case is commonly given without the apostrophe 
(as in the titles " A Midsommer nights Dreame " and " The 
Winters Tale ") ; but the contraction of is generally has the 
apostrophe (as in "All 's Well that ends Well"). Meres calls the 
play " Loue labors lost," and Tofte " Loues Labour Lost." I pre- 
fer (with the great majority of editors) to follow the folio rather 
than the quarto, which is not consistent with itself. 

In the quartos the play is not divided into acts or scenes. In the 
folio it is* divided into acts of very unequal length, " the first being 
half as long again, the fourth twice as long, the fifth three times as 
long, as the second and third" (Spedding). 

Dramatis Persons. — In the quartos and the folio no list of 
dramatis persona is given. Biron is spelt " Berowne," and in iv. 
3. 228 it rhymes with " moon." Mercade appears as " Marcade " 
in the quartos and ist folio, and Armado is sometimes " Armatho." 
White thinks that Moth should be printed " Mote," as it was 
clearly so pronounced. In some other words th was pronounced 
like t. Hence the pun on Goths and goats in A. Y. L. iii. 3. 9, etc. 
In Sonn. 20 we find nothing rhyming with doting. In i. 2. 90 of 
the present play, in " She had a green wit " some critics see an 
allusion to the "green withes" used in binding Samson. Boyet 
rhymes with debt in v. 2. 336 ; Longaville with ill in iv. 3. 1 18, and 



Scene i] Notes 155 

with mile in v. 2. 53 ; and Rosaline with thine in iv. 3. 220. Cos- 
tard, in the old stage-directions, is called " Clown." 

Costume. — As Knight remarks, Cesare Vecellio, in his Habiti 
Antichi (ed. 1598), gives us the general costume of Navarre at this 
period. We are told that some dressed in imitation of the French, 
and some in the style of the Spaniards, while others blended the 
fashions of both these nations. The cut on p. 9 is from Vecellio, 
and shows the Spanish gentleman and the French lady of 1589. 
For the costume of the Muscovites in the masque, see on v. 2. 121 
below, and cf. cut on p. 147. 



ACT I 

Scene I. — 3. Disgrace. Disfigurement ; as in Sonn. 33. 8, 
where it refers to the clouded sun. 

6. Bate. Blunt ; not to be printed " 'bate," as by some editors. 
Cf. dateless in R. of L. 9 : " bateless edge ; " and unbated in Ham. 
i y - 7- I 39 : "A sword unbated ; " and Id. v. 2. 328 : " Unbated and 
envenom'd." 

9. Affections. A quadrisyllable here. 

11. Edict. Accented by S. on either syllable, as suits the meas- 
ure. Cf. the present instance and M. N. D.\. I. 151 with Rich. 
III. i. 4. 203, etc. 

13. Academe. Academy ; used by S. only here and in iv. 3. 301 
and 350 below. 

14. Living art. " Immortal science " (Schmidt) . For art = 
letters, learning in general, cf. iv. 2. 113 below. 

23. Deep oaths. For the use of deep, cf. Sonn. 152. 9: " I have 
sworn deep oaths;" R. of L. 1847: "that deep vow;" and 
K. John, iii. 1. 231 : "deep-sworn faith." For the use of it 
apparently referring to oaths, Dyce compares I Hen. VI. i. 1. 165 : 
" I do remember 't ; " that is, " your oaths to Henry " in the pre- 



156 Notes [Act 1 

ceding speech. In both cases it may be = what I have sworn. 
See also Two Noble Kinsmen, i. I : — 

" You cannot read it there ; there, through my tears, 
Like wrinkled pebbles in a glassy stream, 
You may behold 'em." 

27. Bankrupt quite. The 1st quarto has "bancrout quite," the 
folios only " bankerout." The word is often thus spelt (or similarly, 
as " bankrout," etc.) in the early eds. and other books of the time. 

29. These world's delights. These worldly delights. 

32. All these. Johnson is probably right in making these refer to 
love, wealth, and pomp; not, as some suppose, to the speaker's 
companions. Dumain dies to these worldly delights, only to find 
them living in philosophy. Mr. P. A. Daniel conjectures " all 
three." 

43. Wink. Shut the eyes; as often in S. Cf. Sonn. 43. 1, 
56. 6, Temp. ii. 1. 216, C. of E. hi. 2. 58, etc. For 0/= during, 
cf. T. ofS. ind. 2. 84: " But did I never speak of all that time ? " 

50. An if. Often, like and if, used for if. 

54. By yea and nay. Cf. " by yea and no " in M. W. iv. 
2. 202, etc. 

62. Feast. The quartos and folios all have "fast;" corrected 
by Theobald. He suggested as an alternative " fore-bid " ( = " en- 
joined beforehand ") for forbid ; but S. never uses that word. 

64. From co?nmon sense. That is, from ordinary sight or per- 
ception. Cf. " the sense of sense " ( = the sight of the eye) in v. 
2. 260 below. 

65. Too hard a keeping oath. For the transposition of the 
article, cf. K. John, iv. 2. 27 : " So new a fashion'd robe ; " C. of E. 
iii. 2. 186 : " so fair an offer'd chain ; " T. and C. v. 6. 20 : " much 
more a fresher man," etc. 

77. Light seeking light, etc. Furness would point " Light-seek- 
ing light," making this the subject of doth. He explains the passage 
correctly: "The eyes which are seeking for truth deprive them- 
selves (by too much application) of the power of seeing." But 



Scene i] Notes 157 

this is the meaning with the ordinary pointing. The first Light can 
refer to the eyes as he makes the third light ("themselves" refer- 
ring to " eyes"), and it seems to me simpler to explain it so. 

80. Study me. The me is the expletive pronoun, or " ethical 
dative," often used, as here, with a slight dash of humour. 

82. Who dazzling so, etc. "That when he dazzles, that is, has 
his eye made weak, by fixing his eye upon a fairer eye, that fairer 
eye shall be his heed, his direction or lodestar, and give him light 
that was blinded by it" (Johnson). Schmidt defines heed here as 
= "guard, protection, means of safety." Furness paraphrases the 
passage well : " A woman's eye, by its dangerous beauty, will com- 
pel the gazer to take heed, and thereby, in effect, restore to him 
the light whereof he had been deprived." 

87. Base. Perhaps, as Walker conjectures, a misprint for 
" bare." Marshall takes it to be figuratively = " base-born " (as 
in Lear, i. 2. 10), and paraphrases the passage thus: "Continual 
plodders discover nothing new, but only learn to take other per- 
sons' opinions as their own." 

91. Wot. Know; used only in the present and the participle 
wotting, for which see W. T. iii. 2. 77. 

92. Too much to knotv, etc. " The consequence, says Biron, of 
too much knowledge, is not any real solution of doubts, but mere 
reputation ; that is, too much knowledge gives only fame, a name 
which every godfather can give likewise " (Johnson) ; or, as 
Clarke puts it : " To know overmuch is not to be wise, but to get 
the name of being wise : and every godfather (like these earthly 
godfathers that name the stars) can give a man a name for wisdom." 

95. Proceeded well, etc. There is a play upon proceed, which, as 
Johnson notes, is " an academical term, meaning to take a degree, 
as he proceeded bachelor in physic." 

100. Sneaping. Snipping, or nipping. Cf. W. T. i. 2. 13: 
"sneaping winds ; " and F. of L. 333: "the sneaped birds." For 
the noun sneap (= snubbing) see 2 Hen. LV. ii. I. 133: "I will 
not undergo this sneap without reply." 



158 Notes [Act 1 

106. Shows. The early eds. have " showes " or " shows." Theo- 
bald substituted " earth " for the sake of the rhyme, and some 
read "mirth" (the conjecture of Walker). Malone thinks that a 
line rhyming with 104 may have been lost ; but lines without 
rhyme are sometimes found in rhymed passages. Fangled in 
Cymb. v. 4. 134 (the only instance in S.) means gaudy ; and new- 
fangled shows may mean " May's first gaudy shows of flowers." 

107. Like of. Cf. Much Ado, v. 4. 59: "I am your husband, if 
you like of me." See also iv. 3. 156 below. 

108. So you, to study, etc. This is the quarto reading, and is 
generally adopted, though there may be some corruption. The 
folio has: — 

" So you to studie now it is too late, 
That were to clymbe ore the house to vnlocke the gate." 

White reads : — 

" So you to study now ; — it is too late : 
That were to climb the house o'er to unlock the gate ; " 

which he explains thus : " Birone, in justification of his ridicule of 
these literary pursuits, says that they are untimely, that he likes 
not roses at Christmas or snow in May, and adds, ' So it is too 
late for you to study now: that were to climb over a house to 
unlock a gate ; ' or, in other words, ' you are beginning at the wrong 
end — doing boys' work at men's years. ' But, according to the 
quarto, he says, ' I like of each thing that in season grows ; so 
you, now it is too late to study, climb o'er the house to unlock the 
little gate : ' whereas it was not so (that is, like Birone) at all, but 
exactly not so." I take it, however, that to study now it is too late 
is = in studying now that it is too late ; the infinitive being used in 
the " indefinite " way, so common in S. The general meaning of 
the passage seems to be : " Things done out of season are com- 
monly done by laborious and indirect processes" (Herford). If 
the folio is to be followed, it is better to take it just as it is, making 
it a line of five feet with slurred syllables, than to turn it into an 



Scene I] Notes 1 59 

alexandrine, as White does. Alexandrines are extremely rare in 
the early plays of S. Mr. Fleay (Dr. Ingleby's S. the Man and the 
Book, Part II. p. 71) finds only four in L. L. L., one of which is 
doubtful. 

1 10. Sit you out. The expression is one used in card-playing 
for taking no part in the game. 

112. Barbarism. Ignorance, neglect of knowledge, or learning. 

114. Swore. The reading of the later folios, and required by 
the rhyme. The quartos and 1st folio have "sworne." Elsewhere 
S. has sworn for the participle, but we find broke for broken, froze 
for frozen, smote for smitten, etc. Cf. forgot in 141 below, and 
chose in 169. 

1 28. Gentility ! Refinement, courtesy. In the only other instance 
of the word in S. (A. Y. L.i. 1. 22) it is = gentle birth. The early 
eds. make the line a part of Longaville's speech ; but Theobald is 
clearly right in transferring it to Biron. 

136. Complete. Accented on the first syllable because preceding 
a noun so accented. Cf. prdfound in iv. 3. 166, and extreme in v. 
2. 738. 

140-142. So study, etc. " These lines form a most excellent vindi- 
cation of the opinions uttered before by Biron. The study here is that 
exaggerated habit of studious industry which neglects, for labours 
excessive but comparatively useless, the wholesome work of every- 
day life. He also points out the absurdity of retiring from the 
world, as the King proposed, imposing unnecessary duties on them- 
selves while neglecting those necessary to their station" (Marshall). 

147. Of force. Perforce, of necessity ; as in M. N. D. iii. 2. 40, 
M. ofV. iv. 1. 56, 421, etc. 

148. Lie. Lodge, reside. Reed quotes Wotton's definition: 
" An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good 
of his country." Cf. M. W. ii. 1. 187 : " Does he lie at the Garter? " 
etc. Mere = absolute ; as often. Cf. i. 2. ^ below. 

151. Affects. Affections, or passions; as in Rich. II. i. 4. 30 
and Oth. i. 3. 264. 



1 60 Notes [Act 1 

158. Suggestions. Temptations ; the usual meaning in S. Cf. 
the verb in v. 2. 768 below. 

160. I am the last that will last keep his oath. Changes have been 
suggested, on the ground that Biron is made to say the contrary of 
what he means; but S. sometimes twists the sense of a word a little 
for the sake of a repetition like this. 

161. Quick. Lively, animated ; as in i. 2. 23, 29, v. I. 59, and 
v. 2. 284 below. Cf. its use = living; for which see Ham. v. 1. 137, 
274, 302, etc.; also Acts, x. 42, etc. 

166. One whom. The 1st folio has " One who," which might 
be retained. Cf. iv. 1. 72 below. 

168. Complements. Probably = accomplishments, as Johnson 
and others explain it. Schmidt takes it to be = external show. 
The early eds. make no distinction between complement and com- 
pliment. 

170. Hight. Is called ; used by S. only as an archaism. Cf. 255 
below. See also M. N. D. v. 1. 140 and Per. iv. prol. 18. 

1 73. Debate. Contest, quarrel ; the only sense in S. Cf. M. N. 
D. ii. I. 116, 2 Hen. IV. iv. 4. 2, etc. 

176. I will use hi??i for my minstrelsy. " I will make a minstrel 
of him, whose occupation was to relate fabulous stories" (Douce). 

178. Fire-new. Brand-new, fresh from the mint. Cf. Rich. III. 
i. 3. 256: "Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current;" 
T. N. iii. 2. 23 : " fire-new from the mint," etc. Furness suggests 
that S. may have coined the compound, as no earlier example of it 
than that in Rich. III. has been noted. 

181. Duke's. Changed by Theobald to " King's ; " but cf. i. 2. 
36 and 128 below, where Armado uses it in the same blundering 
way. We find it even in the mouth of the princess in ii. I. 38. 
Dogberry applies the word to the prince in Much Ado, iii. 5. 22. 

184. Tharborough. For thirdborough, a kind of constable, for 
whom see T. of S. ind. 1. 12. 

190. Contempts. Contents, of course. 

195. Having. Possession. The early eds. have "heaven," 



Scene I] Notes 161 

which the Cambridge editors and a few others retain. Staunton 
remarks: "The allusion maybe to the representations of heaven, 
and the attendant personifications of Faith, Hope, etc., in the 
ancient pageants." For having, cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 396 : " Your 
having in beard," etc. 

197. Laughing. The early eds. have "hearing; " corrected by 
Capell. The old reading has been defended, and Furness would 
retain it. 

200. Style. There is an evident play on stile ; as in iv. 1. 95 
below. See also Much Ado, v. 2. 6. 

203. Taken with the manner. A law term = taken in the fact, 
or in the act. Cf. I Hen. IV. ii. 4. 347 and W. T. iv. 4. 752. 
Halliwell-Phillipps quotes Termes de la Ley : " Maynour is when 
a theefe hath stolne, and is followed with Hue and Cry, and taken, 
having that found upon him which he stole, that is called Maynour. 
And so we use to say when we find one doing of an unlawful act, 
that we took him with the Maynour or Manner." 

206. Form. Bench. For the play upon the word, cf. R. and J. 
ii. 4. 36 : " who stand so much on the new form that they cannot 
sit at ease on the old bench." 

226. But so. Equivalent to " but so-so," which Hanmer substi- 
tuted. 

240. Ycleped. Called ; an archaism put only into the mouths 
of Armado and Holofernes. Cf. v. 2. 599 below. 

246. Curious-knotted. Elaborately laid out in knots, or inter- 
lacing beds ; a technical term. Cf. Rich. II. iii. 4. 46 : " Her 
knots disorder'd ; " and Milton, P. L. iv. 242 : " In beds and curi- 
ous knots." See the cut on p. 8. 

253. Vassal. Possibly there is a play on vessel. 

258. Sorted. Associated; as in 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 162 and Ham. 
ii. 2. 274. Cf. Bacon, Essay 7 : " Makes them sort with meane 
Company." 

259. Continent canon. Law concerning continence. 

260. Passion. Sorrow, grieve. Cf. T. G. of V. iv. 4. 1 72: 

LOVE'S LABOUR — 1 1 



1 62 Notes [Act i 

" Ariadne passioning For Theseus' perjury ; " and V. and A. 
1059 : " Dumbly she passions, franticly she doteth." Cf. the noun 
in v. 2. 118 below. 

271. The weaker vessel. Taken from 1 Peter, hi. 7 (cf. A. Y. L. 
ii. 4. 6, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 66, and R. and J. i. 1. 20), as vessel of thy 
law's fury from Romans, ix. 22. 

287. Damosel. The folio has " damosell " here and in the next 
two lines, the 1st quarto " damsel." Holofernes makes it " damo- 
sella" in iv. 2. 130 below. 

305. Lay. Stake, wager. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 1. 242: "lay twenty 
French crowns to one," etc. 

Scene II. — 5. Imp. Youngling ; used only by Armado, Holo- 
fernes, and Pistol. The word originally meant an offshoot or scion 
of a tree ; thence, figuratively, offspring or child ; finally becoming 
limited to a young devil. Johnson remarks that Lord Cromwell, 
in his last letter to Henry VIII., prays for the imp his son. Spenser 
in the prologue to F. Q. addresses Cupid as 

" most dreaded impe of highest Jove, 
Faire Venus sonne." 

Cf. F.Q. Hi. 5. 53: — 

" Fayre ympes of beauty, whose bright shining beames 
Adorne the world with like to heavenly light," etc. 

6. O Lord, sir. This expression was much in vogue at court 
and in society in the time of S., and the Clown in A. W. ii. 2 
makes fun of it. 

8. Juvenal. Juvenile, youth ; used only by Armado, Flute 
(M. N. D. iii. 1. 97), and in jest by Falstaff (2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 22). 

11. Senior. The 1st quarto has " signeor," and the 1st folio 
"signeur." See footnote on p. 16 above. 

14. Epitheton. Epithet; the reading of 2d folio. The 1st folio 
has "apathaton," and the quarto " apethaton." 

34. Crosses love not him. The boy plays on crosses as applied 



Scene II] Notes 163 

to coin, on account of the cross stamped on them. We have the 
same pun in A. Y. L. ii. 4. 12 and 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 253. Mere = 
absolute, very. See on i. 1. 148 above. 

41. A tapster. For other allusions to the tapster's dishonest 
reckoning, or keeping account with customers, cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 
193 and T. and C. i. 2. 123. 

44. Complete. Accomplished. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. 2. 118: "This 
man so complete," etc. 

53. The dancing horse. A famous horse of the time, often 
called " Bankes' horse " from his owner, who had trained him to per- 
form many remarkable feats. Raleigh, in his Hist, of the World, 
says : " If Banks had lived in older times, he would have shamed 
all the inchanters in the world; for whosoever was most famous 
among them could never master or instruct any beast as he did his 
horse." Steevens quotes, among other allusions to the animal, 
Jonson, Every Man Out of His Humour : " He keeps more ado 
with this monster than ever Bankes did with his horse ; " and the 
same author's Epigrams : — 

" Old Banks the jugler, our Pythagoras, 
Grave tutor to the learned horse." 

In France, according to Bishop Morton, Bankes " was brought into 
suspition of magicke, because of the strange feates which his horse 
Morocco plaied at Orleance ; " but Bankes having made the beast 
kneel down to a crucifix and kiss it, " his adversaries rested satis- 
fied, conceiving (as it might seeme) that the divell had no power 
to come neare the crosse." In Rome he was less fortunate, if we 
may believe Reed, who says that both horse and owner were there 
burned by order of the Pope. According to other authorities, 
however, Bankes came back safe to London, and was still living 
in King Charles's time, a jolly vintner in Cheapside. For fuller 
accounts of him and his horse, see Douce's Illustrations, Cham- 
bers's Book of Days, or Halliwell-Phillipps's folio ed. 

63. Courtesy. Curtsy ; used by men as well as women. Cf. 



164 



Notes [Act 1 



Rich. III. i. 3. 49 : " Duck with French nods and apish courtesy ; " 
A. W. v. 3. 324: " Let thy courtesies alone ; they are scurvy ones," 
etc. 

68. Sweet my child. My sweet child. Cf. " dear my lord," etc. 

83. The four complexions. Those connected with the four 
humours — " the sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholy." 

86. Green indeed is the colour of lovers. Some say, because of 
its association with jealousy, "the green-eyed monster;" others, 
as being the colour of the willow, " worn of forlorn paramours," 
for which, see M. of V. v. 1. 10, Oth. iv. 3. 28 fol., v. 2. 248, etc. 

90. A green wit. Possibly, as the Cambridge editors remark, 
there is an allusion to the green withes with which Samson was 
bound. See p. 154 above (on Dramatis Persons). It is doubt- 
ful, however, whether withe was ever pronounced wit. 

93. Maculate. The reading of the 1st quarto ; the other early 
eds. have " immaculate." 

107. Native she doth owe. She possesses by nature. For oive 
= own, cf. ii. 1. 6 below. 

no. The King and the Beggar. The ballad of King Cophetua 
and the Beggar-maid, which may be found in Percy's Reliques. 
For other allusions to it, see iv. 1. 65 below, R. and f. ii. I. 14 
and Rich. II. v. 3. 80. 

117. Digression. Going out of the right way, transgression. 
Cf. R. ofL. 202 : — 

" Then my digression is so vile, so base, 
That it will live engraven in my face." 

Cf. also digressing in Rich. II. v. 3. 66. 

119. Rational hind. Perhaps Armado's fantastic way of express- 
ing " human hind," hind being a beast (a deer), as well as a boor; 
or = "reasoning beast" (Marshall). Farmer objects to this inter- 
pretation that it makes Costard a female animal ; but Steevens 
quotes in reply J. C. i. 3. 106 : " He were no lion, were not 



Scene II] Notes 165 

Romans hinds." The meaning may be, as Furness suggests, that 
Costard, though a peasant, is no fool. 

124. A light wench. S. is fond of playing upon the different 
senses of light. Cf. M. of V. v. 1. 130 : — 

" Let me give light, but let me not be light ; 
For a light wife doth make a heavy husband." 

See also ii. 1. 199 and v. 2. 25 below ; and for lights wanton, iv. 

3- 383- 

132. Day-woman. Dairy-woman. Dey or deye was an old 
term for such a servant ; and still current, in a more general 
sense, in Scotland {New Eng. Diet.). 

136. That's hereby. "Hereby is used by her (as among the 
vulgar in some countries) to signify as it may happen ; he takes it 
in the sense of just by " (Steevens). We have it in the latter sense 
in iv. 1. 9 below, but it is doubtful whether it ever had the former 
one. The only other instance of the word in S. is in Rich. III. 
i. 4. 94. 

137. Situate. For the form, Cf. C. of E. ii. I. 16. 

140. With that face ? Steevens says : " This cant phrase has 
oddly lasted till the present time ; and is used by people who have 
no more meaning annexed to it than Fielding had, who, putting it 
into the mouth of Beau Didapper, thinks it necessary to apologize 
(in a note) for its want of sense, by adding that ' it was taken ver- 
batim from very polite conversation.'" The 1st folio has "what 
face," which Furness defends (= what effrontery, or presumption). 

145. Come, Jaquenetta, away ! Given by the quartos and the 
folio to " Cloy (that is, Clown, or Costard) ; corrected by Theobald. 
The next speech is given by the 1st quarto to " Ar.," by the 1st 
folio to "Clo., " and by the later folios to " Con." 

157. East and loose. A quibbling reference to the cheating 
game so called. Cf. iii. 1. 104 below. See also K. fohn, iii. 1. 242 
and A. and C. iv. 12. 28. 



1 66 Notes [Act ii 

167. Affect. Love; as in 88 above. Cf. Much Ado, i. 1. 298: 
" Dost thou affect her? " etc. 

170. Argument. Proof; as in Much Ado, ii. 3. 243, T. N. iii. 
2. 12, etc. 

172. Familiar. " Familiar spirit," or demon ; as in 2 Hen. VI. 
iv. 7. 114: " he has a familiar under his tongue," etc. Cf. also the 
adjective in Sonn. 86. 9 : — 

" that affable familiar ghost 
Which nightly gulls him with intelligence." 

176. Butt-shaft. A kind of arrow used for shooting at butts, or 
targets. Cf. R. and J. ii. 4. 16. 

178. The first and second cause, etc. Alluding to the classified 
causes of quarrel in the elaborate duelling science of the time. 
Cf. Touchstone's ridicule of them in A. Y. L. v. 4. 52 fol. As 
Saviolo's book, evidently alluded to here, was printed in 1594, this 
passage is one of the indications of the revision of the play before 
the publication of the 1st quarto. 

1 79. Passado. A thrust in fencing. See R. and J. ii. 4. 26, iii. 
1. 18, etc. Duello occurs again in T. N. iii. 4. 337. 

182. Manager. The verb manage is often used of arms. Cf. 
Rich. II. iii. 2. 118, 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 292, 301, R. and J. i. 1. 76, etc. 

184. Sonnet. The reading of all the early eds. changed by 
some to "sonneteer," " sonneter," or "sonnetist." Turn sonnet 
is not unlike Armado. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 3. 21 : " now is he turned 
orthography ; " where some read " orthographer " or " orthogra- 
phist." 

ACT II 

Scene I. — 1. Dearest. Best, highest. Cf. iv. 1. 85 below. 
See also " dearest speed" (1 Hen. IV. v. 5. 36), etc. 

2. Who. For whom; as often. It is sometimes used even 
after prepositions; as in "To who?" (Cymb. iv. 2. 75, Oth. i. 2. 



Scene I] Notes 1 67 

52), "With who?" (Oth. iv. 2. 99), etc. In the next line here 
whom is used correctly. 

5. Inheritor. Possessor ; as in Rich. III. iv. 3. 34, and Ham. v. 
1. 121. 

6. 0w«. See on i. 2. 107 above. 

7. P&0. Claim, suit. 

16. Chapmen. Here = sellers ; but usually = buyers, as in T. 
and C. iv. I. 75. Johnson remarks: "cheap or cheaping was 
anciently the market ; chapman therefore is marketman." Uttered 
is here used in the commercial sense of " made to pass from one 
hand to another." Cf. R. and J. v. 1. 67, W. T. iv. 4. 330, etc. 
The meaning of the passage is that the estimation of beauty de- 
pends not on the tongue of the seller, but on the eye of the 
buyer. Cf. Sonn. 102. 4 : — 

" That love is merchandiz'd whose rich esteeming 
The owner's tongue doth publish everywhere." 

23. Painful. Painstaking, exacting. 

25. To 'x seemeth. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 65 : " friends to 's wel- 
come," etc. Such contractions of us occur often in the latest 
plays, but seldom in the early ones. 

28. Bold of. Confident of, trusting in. 

29. Best-moving. Most eloquent. 

32. Importunes. Accented on the penult by S. 

42. Jaques. Always a dissyllable in S. Solemnized is here ac- 
cented on the second syllable ; but on the first in M. of V. ii. 9. 6 
and iii. 2. 194. Furness says the word has "two accents here; " 
but no more so than longaville in the next line, or any word com- 
ing under the rule (4) on p. 148 above. 

45. Well fitted in the arts. " Well fitted is well qualified'''' 
(Johnson). 

49. Blunt. " Too dull in regard to the feeling of others " (Fur- 
ness). 

57. Of all. That is, by all ; a common use of of. 



1 68 Notes [Act ii 

62. And much too little, etc. " And my report of the good I 
saw is much too little compared to his great worthiness" (Heath). 

68. Hour's. A dissyllable ; as often. 

72. Conceit's expositor. The exponent of his thought ; a very 
common meaning of conceit. 

82. Competitors. Associates, partners. Cf. T. N. iv. 2. 12, or 
A. and C. ii. 7. 76, v. 1. 42, etc. 

83. Addressed. Prepared, ready. Cf. J. C. iii. I. 29, Hen. V. 
iii. 3. 58, etc. 

88. Unpeopled. The Cambridge editors strangely prefer the 
quarto " unpeeled," which they (like Schmidt) take to be = 
"stripped, desolate," though (as peel is = strip) it ought to have 
the opposite meaning. 

90. Welcome to the court, etc. The king gives the usual formal 
welcome to his guests ; but the Princess mischievously criticizes 
his use of court. 

103. Where. Whereas ; as often. Cf. Lear, i. 2. 89, Cor. i. I. 
102, i. 10. 12, etc. 

106. And sin to break it. Hanmer changes And to "Not;" 
but, as Johnson remarks, "the princess shows an inconvenience 
very frequently attending rash oaths, which, whether kept or 
broken, produce guilt." 

no. Resolve. Answer. Cf. T.ofS.'w. 2. 7: "What, master, 
read you? First resolve me that," etc. Suddenly = quickly, 
promptly. 

119. Long of. Owing to, because of; as in M. N. D. iii. 2. 339 : 
" all this coil is long of you," etc. It is generally printed " 'long 
of" in the modern eds., but not in the early ones. Along of "in this 
sense does not occur in S. 

124. Fair befall, etc. Cf. Rich. LLL. i. 3. 282: "Now fair befall 
thee and thy noble house ! " etc. Fair fall in the next line is 
used in the same sense ; as in K. fohn, i. I. 78, etc. 

131. Being but the one half, etc. Cf. the reference to Monstre- 
let's Chronicles, p. 16 above. 



Scene I] Notes 169 

147. Depart. Part. Cf. K. John, ii. 1. 563: "Hath willingly 
departed with a part." 

149. Gelded. Maimed ; a favourite figure with .S., as Steevens 
notes. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 623, Rich. II. ii. 1. 237, 1 Hen. IV. iii. I. 
1 10, etc. 

174. As you. That you ; as not unfrequently after so. 

190. No point. A play on the French negative point ; as in v. 
2. 278 below. No point was sometimes used as an emphatic nega- 
tive. Steevens quotes The Shoemaker's Holiday, 1600: "No point. 
Shall I betray my brother ? " 

195. Katherine. The early eds. have " Rosaline " here, and 
" Katharine " for Rosaline in 210 below. They confuse the names 
of characters in other places also. 

199. Light in the light. See on i. 2. 124 above. 

203. God's blessing on your beard ! "That is, mayst thou have 
sense and seriousness more proportionate to thy beard, the length 
of which suits ill with such idle catches of wit ! " (Johnson). 

218. Grapple. Like board, a figure taken from naval warfare. 
The play on ships and sheeps indicates that the words were pro- 
nounced nearly alike. "We find the same quibble in C. of E. iv. 
1. 93 and T. G. of V. i. 1. 73. 

223. Though several they be. A play on several, which meant 
an enclosed field in distinction from a common. Steevens quotes, 
among other examples of the word, Holinshed, Hist, of England : 
" not to take and pale in the commons, to enlarge their severalls." 
Though seems used somewhat peculiarly, and has been explained 
as = since. Staunton's explanation is better : " If we take both as 
places devoted to pasture — the one for general, the other for par- 
ticular use — the meaning is easy enough. Boyet asks permission 
to graze on her lips. ' Not so,' she answers ; * my lips, though 
intended for the purpose, are not for general use.' " It occurs to 
me that there may be a play on several = separate ; that is, there 
are two of them. 

234. Retire. For the noun, cf. K. John, ii. 1. 326, v. 5. 4, etc. 



170 Notes [Act in 

235. Thorough. Used by S. interchangeably with through. 

236. Like an agate. For the figures cut in agates, cf. Much Ado, 
iii. 1. 65 : "an agate very vilely cut." 

238. All impatient to speak and not see, etc. " If we take not 
see to imply ' not see, because it is not the tongue's faculty to see,' 
the sentence means that his tongue hurried to his eyes that it might 
express what they beheld" (Clarke). A writer in the Edin. Mag. 
(Nov. 1 786) explains it : " his tongue envied the quickness of his 
eyes, and strove to be as rapid in his utterance as they in their 
perception." Perhaps Johnson is right in making it = " being 
impatiently desirous to see as well as speak." Dyce paraphrases 
it thus : " His tongue, not able to endure the having merely the 
power of speaking without that of seeing ; " or vexed at not being 
able to see as well as speak. I think that this is the meaning. 

241. To feel only looking. Apparently = to have no perception 
but that of looking, to have their own sense transformed to that 
of sight. 

245. Point you. Direct you, suggest to you. 

246. M argent. Alluding to the practice of putting notes, etc., 
in the margin of books. Cf. R. and J. i. 3. 86: — 

"And what obscur'd in this fair volume lies 
Find written in the margent of his eyes ; " 

Ham. v. 2. 162: "edified by the margent," etc. 

250. Disposed. "Inclined to merriment" (Schmidt); "inclined 
to rather loose mirth, somewhat wantonly merry " (Dyce). Schmidt 
gives the word the same sense in v. 2. 468 below, and in T. N. ii. 
3. 88. Boyet parries the reproof by taking the word in its ordinary 
meaning. 

ACT III 

Scene I. — 1. Passionate. Referring to "the lover's luxury of 
woe." " A plaintive love-song was sometimes called a passion" as 
Furness shows by apt quotations. 



Scene i] Notes 171 

2. Concolinel. Evidently a scrap of a song, but whether the 
beginning or the burden of it, the title or the tune, it is impossible 
to determine. The songs in the old plays were often omitted in the 
manuscripts and printed copies, being indicated, as here, by some 
abbreviation, or merely by a stage-direction, as "Here they sing" or 
the Latin "Cantant." 

5. Festinately. Hastily, quickly. Cf. festinate in Lear, iii. 7. 10. 

8. Brawl. A kind of dance (Fr. branle). "It was performed 
by several persons uniting hands in a circle and giving each other 
continual shakes, the steps changing with the time" (Douce). 
Steevens quotes Jonson, Time Vindicated: — 

" The Graces did them footing teach ; 
And, at the old Idalian brawls, 
They danc'd your mother down." 

1 1 . Canary to it. The canary was a lively dance ; sometimes, 
like certain other old dances, accompanied by a song. See Elson 
(6". and Music, p. 139). Cf. A. W. ii. 1. 77 : — 

" make you dance canary 
With spritely fire and motion." 

13. Sometime. Used by S. interchangeably with sometimes. 

16. Penthouse-like. Like a penthouse, a porch with a sloping 
roof, common in the domestic architecture of the time of S. 
There was one on the house in which tradition says he was born. 
The cut on the following page is copied from an old print. For 
penthouse, cf. Much Ado, iii. 3. no and M. of V. ii. 6. I. 

1 7. Thin-belly doublet. Many of the modern eds. have " thin 
belly-doublet;" but the 1st quarto reads " thinbellies " and the 
folios " thinbellie," or (2d folio) " thinebelly." Cf. the descrip- 
tion of the thick-bellied doublets in Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses, 
1583 : "Their dublettes are noe lesse monstrous than the reste ; 
For now the fashion is to haue them hang downe to the middest of 
their theighes . . . beeing so harde- quilted, and stuffed, bombasted 
and sewed, as they can verie hardly eyther stoupe downe, or decline 



172 



Notes 



[Act III 



them selues to the grounde, soe styffe and sturdy they stand about 
them. . . . Now, what handsomnes can be in these dubblettes 
whiche stand on their bellies like, . . . (so as their bellies are thicker 
than all their bodyes besyde) let wise men iudge ; For for my parte, 
handsomnes in them I see none, and muche lesse profyte. . . . Cer- 
taine I am there was neuer any kinde of apparell euer inuented that 
could more disproportion the body of man than these Dublets 
with great bellies, . . . stuffed with foure, hue or six pound of 
Bombast at the least." For bombast, as here used, see on v. 2. 779 
below. 




John Shakespeare's House in Henley Street 

19. After the old painting. "It was a common trick among 
some of the most indolent of the ancient masters, to place the hands 
in the bosom or the pockets, or conceal them in some other part of 
the drapery, to avoid the labour of representing them, or to disguise 
their own want of skill to employ them with grace and propriety " 
(Steevens) ; but this practice may not be referred to here. 

21. Co77iplements. Accomplishments. See on i. I. 168 above. 

22. Nice. Coy ; as in v. 2. 220 below. 

27. By my penny of observation. Probably alluding to the 
famous old piece called A Penniworth of Wit (Farmer). 

29. The hobby-horse is forgot. Moth follows up the " But O, but 



Scene i] Notes 173 

O — " with the remainder of a line in an old song bewailing the 
omission of the hobby-horse from the May games. Cf. Ham. iii. 
2. 142 : " or else shall he suffer not thinking on, with the hobby- 
horse, whose epitaph is ' For, O, for, O, the hobby-horse is forgot ! ' " 
See also Jonson, Entertainment at Althorpe : " But see, the hobby- 
horse is forgot ; " Beaumont and Fletcher, Women Pleased, iv. 1 : 
" Shall the hobby-horse be forgot then ? " etc. This omission is 
said to have been due to the opposition made by the Puritans to 
the morris-dances of the May festivities. For an account of these 
games, see Brand's Popular Antiquities or my Shakespeare the Boy. 
The hobby-horse, says Toilet, " is a spirited horse of pasteboard, in 
which the master dances and displays tricks of legerdemain." A 
dish was hung from the horse's mouth for receiving money given 
by the lookers-on. Hobby-horse was also a term of contempt for 
a harlot ; as the next speech suggests. Cf. W. T. i. 2. 276 and 
Oth. iv. 1. 160. 

51. Message. The meaning seems to be that the foolish message 
is well sympathized (or has its appropriate counterpart) in the fool- 
ish messenger. 

53. Ha, ha ! Probably not expressing laughter, but = " Hey ? 
hey ?" as Furness suggests, comparing M. of V. ii. 5. 46. 

57. Swift. Quick at repartee. Cf. T. of S. v. 2. 54 : "A good 
swift simile," etc. 

66. Voluble. The folio reading ; the 1st quarto has "volable," 
which the Cambridge ed. retains, as = nimble, quick. 

67. By thy favour, etc. " Welkin is the sky, to which Armado, 
with the false dignity of a Spaniard, makes an apology for sighing 
in its face " (Johnson) . 

70. A costard broken, etc. He plays on the word costard, which 
was used jocosely for head. Cf. Rich. III. i. 4. 159, Lear, iv. 6. 
247, etc. 

72. No salve in them all. The early eds. have " in thee male " 
or " in the male." Johnson conjectured " in the mail " (that is, in 
the bag), which is very plausible, as mail (or male) was often used 



174 Notes [Act in 

in that sense. The word mail is not used by S., except in T. and C. 
iii. 3. 52, where it is = armour. As Clarke says, Costard seems to 
take enigma, riddle, and P envoy to be various kinds of salve. On 
the virtue of the plantain for a broken shin, cf. R. and J. i. 2. 52 : 

" Romeo. Your plantain-leaf is excellent for that. 
Benvolio. For what, I pray thee ? 
Romeo. For your broken shin." 

Broken, by the way, means bruised so as to be bloody, not fractured, 
as some have supposed. 

77. Spleen. For the association with laughter, cf. v. 2. 1 17 below. 

81. Is not V envoy a salve? Some see here a pun on salve and 
the Latin salve, which was used sometimes as a parting salutation ; 
but this is improbable. 

84. Tofore. Cf. T. A. iii. 1. 294 : "as thou tofore hast been." 
Sain is Armado's rhyming " license " for said. 

102. The boy hath sold him a bargain. "This comedy is run- 
ning over with allusions to country sports — one of the many proofs 
that, in its original shape, it may be assigned to the author's greenest 
years. The sport which so delights Costard, about the fox, the ape, 
and the humble-bee, has been explained by Capell, whose lumber- 
ing and obscure comments upon Shakespeare have been pillaged 
and sneered at by the other commentators. In this instance, they 
take no notice of him. It seems, according to Capell, that ' selling 
a bargain ' consisted in drawing a person in, by some stratagem, to 
proclaim himself fool, by his own lips ; and thus, when Moth makes 
his master repeat the V envoy, ending in the goose, he proclaims 
himself a goose, according to the rustic wit, which Costard calls 
selling a bargain well" (Knight). 

104. Fast and loose. A cheating game. See on i. 2. 155 above. 

in. And he ended the market. Alluding to the proverb " Three 
women and a goose make a market" (Steevens). c 

115. No feeling of it. Costard plays on sensibly, which sometimes 
meant feelingly in the literal sense. Cf. Cor. i. 4. 53. 



Scene I] Notes 175 

121. Marry, Costard, etc. The folio has " Sirra, Costard," etc. 
Marry is the conjecture of Knight and is favoured by the 
reply. 

125. Immured. As in 2d folio, the earlier eds. having " emured." 

130. In lieu thereof. In return for; the only meaning of the 
phrase in S. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 123, M. of V. iv. 1. 410, v. I. 262, etc. 

131. Significant. Armado's polysyllabic term for the letter. 

l 33- Ward. Guard, preservation. For its use as a term in fen- 
cing (= posture of defence), cf. Temp. i. 2. 471 : "come from thy 
ward," etc. 

135. Like the sequel. That is, like the sequel of a story. Some 
have fancied an allusion to the French sequelle, a gang of followers. 

136. Incony. Apparently = fine, delicate. Nares cites examples 
of the word from Jonson, Marlowe, and others. It has been sug- 
gested that Jew is a colloquial contraction of jewel. 

137. At this point lines 141-147 of iv. 1 probably belong. See 
note upon them there. 

140. Inkle. Tape. Cf. W. T. iv. 1. 208, where inkles are men- 
tioned among the wares of Autolycus. 

153. Good my knave. My good boy. See on i. 2. 68 above. 
For knave = boy, servant, cf. J. C. iv. 3. 241, 269, A. and C. iv. 14. 
12, etc. 

172. In print. To the letter. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 1. 175: "I 
will speak it in print," etc. 

176. Humorous. Capricious. Cf. K.John, iii. 1. 119: "her 
humorous ladyship" (Fortune), etc. 

177. Critic. Carper; the only sense in S. Cf. Sonn. 112. 10 
and T. and C. v. 2. 131. See also on iv. 3. 168 below. 

1 78. Pedant. Pedagogue ; the only meaning in S. Cf. T. N. 
iii. 2. 80 : "A pedant that keeps a school i' the church," etc. 

179. Magnificent! Pompous, boastful; used by S. only here 
and in i. 1. 192 above. 

180. Wimpled, Hoodwinked, blindfolded. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. 
i. 1.4: — 



176 Notes [Act m 

" Yet she much whiter ; but the same did hide 
Under a veil that wimpled was full low ; " 

that is, drawn close about her face, like a wi?nple, a kind of veil. 
Cf. F. Q. i. 12. 22: — 

*' For she had layd her mournefull stole aside, 
And widow-like sad wimple thrown away." 

181. Dan. The folio has "don" (apparently the Spanish Don 
= dominus ; as in Much Ado, v. 2. 86 : " Don Worm," etc.), which 
might be retained ; but Dan (the quarto " dan ") is generally 
adopted. 

185. Plackets. Petticoats, or the slit or opening in those gar- 
ments. Placket-hole is still used for the slit in a petticoat. The 
codpiece was a part of the breeches in front, made very conspicuous 
in the olden time. 

187. Paritors. The same as apparitors, officers of ecclesiastical 
courts whose duty it was to serve citations. Johnson says that they 
are put under Cupid's government because the citations were most 
frequently issued for offences against chastity. 

188. A corporal of his field. Farmer says: "Giles Clayton, in 
his Martial Discipline, 1591, has a chapter on the office and duty 
of a corporal of the field" According to Tyrwhitt, his duties were 
similar to those of an aide-de-camp now. 

189. Like a tumbler's hoop. Alluding to its being adorned with 
coloured ribbons. 

191. A German clock. Clocks were then chiefly imported from 
Germany, and the dramatists of the time were fond of comparing 
the feminine " make-up " to their intricate machinery. Steevens 
cites, among other passages, Westward Hoe, 1607: "no German 
clock, no mathematical engine whatsoever, requires so much repa- 
ration ; " and A Mad World, my Masters, 1608 : — 

" She consists of a hundred pieces, 
Much like your German clock, and near allied : 
Both are so nice they cannot go for pride." 



Scene i] Notes 177 

192. Out of frame. Out of order; as in Ham. i. 2. 20: "dis- 
joint and out of frame." 

197. Wightly. The early eds. have "whitly" or "whitely," 
which some explain as = whitish, pale (Dyce makes it = sallow) ; 
but Rosaline was dark. It seems probable that the word was a 
misspelling of wightly, which the Cambridge editors substitute, and 
which means nimble, sprightly. Spenser has both wightly and 
wight in this sense, and the latter is found in Chaucer ; as in C. T. 
14273 (Tyrwhitt's ed.) : " With any yong man, were he never so 
wight," etc. 

198. Pitch-balls. Black eyes were not esteemed beautiful in the 
time of S. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 5. 47, where Rosalind refers contemp- 
tuously to Phebe's " bugle eyeballs," which the shepherdess after- 
wards recalls : " He said mine eyes were black." See also Sonn. 
127. 

199. Do the deed. Cf. M. of V. i. 3. 86 : "And in the doing of 
the deed of kind," etc. 

200. Argus. For other allusions to the hundred-eyed guardian 
of Io, see M. of V.v. 1. 230 and T. and C. i. 2. 31. 

206. Joan. Often = a peasant, or a woman in humble life. Cf. 
v. 2. 918 below. See also K. John, i. 1. 184: " now can I make 
any Joan a lady." 

ACT IV 

Scene I. — 1. Was that the king, etc. " This is just one of those 
touches that S. throws in, to mark the way in which a woman un- 
consciously betrays her growing preference for a man who loves 
her. The princess recognizes the horseman, though he is at such 
a distance that her attendant lord is unable to distinguish whether 
it be the king or not ; and then she immediately covers her self- 
betrayal by the pretendedly indifferent words, Whoe'er he was, etc. 
S. in no one of his wondrous and numerous instances of insight into 
the human heart more marvellously manifests his magic power of 
love's labour — 12 



i 7 8 



Notes [Act iv 



perception than in his discernment of the workings of female 
nature ; its delicacies, its subtleties, its reticences, its revelations, 
its innocent reserves, and its artless confessions. He, of all mas- 
culine writers, was most truly feminine in his knowledge of what 
passes within a woman's heart, and the multiform ways in which it 
expresses itself through a woman's acts, words, manner — nay even 
her very silence. He knew the eloquence of a look, the signifi- 
cance of a gesture, the interpretation of a tacit admission; and, 
moreover, he knew how to convey them in his might of expression 
by ingenious inference" (Clarke). 

io. Stand. Used in the technical sense of the hunter's station 
or hiding-place when waiting for game. Cf. Cymb. ii. 3. 75, iii. 4. 
ill, M. W. v. 5. 248, etc. Knight remarks: "Royal and noble 
ladies, in the days of Elizabeth, delighted in the somewhat unre- 
fined sport of shooting deer with a cross-bow. In the ' alleys green ' 
of Windsor or of Greenwich parks, the queen would take her stand, 
on an elevated platform, and, as the pricket or the buck was driven 
past her, would aim the death-shaft, amid the acclamations of her 
admiring courtiers. The ladies, it appears, were skilful enough at 
this sylvan butchering. Sir Francis Leake writes to the Earl of 
Shrewsbury — ' Your lordship has sent me a very great and fat stag, 
the welcomer being stricken by your right honourable lady's hand.' 
The practice was as old as the romances of the Middle Ages. But, 
in those days, the ladies were sometimes not so expert as the Count- 
ess of Shrewsbury ; for, in the history of Prince Arthur, a fair hunt- 
ress wounds Sir Launcelot of the Lake, instead of the stag at which 
she aims." 

17. Fair. For its use as a noun, cf. M. N. D.\. 1. 182, A. Y. L. 
iii. 2. 99, etc. See also 22 just below. 

18. Good my glass. My good glass ; referring sportively to the 
forester. Johnson supposed the glass to be " a small mirror set in 
gold hanging at her girdle," according to the fashion of French 
ladies at that time — and of English ladies also, as Stubbes tells us 
in his Anatomie of Abuses : "they must haue their looking glasses 



Scene I] Notes 179 

caryed with them whersoeuer they go. And good reason, for els 
how cold they see the deuil in them ? " 

23. Foul. Plain ; opposed to fair, as often. 

25. Accounted ill. Because not consistent with mercy, as miss- 
ing the mark would rather be. 

- 35. That my heart means no ill. That is, means no ill to. That 
is treated like the dative him in " never meant him any ill " (2 
Hen. VI. ii. 3. 91), etc. 

36. Curst. Shrewish ; as often. 

Self-sovereignty. "Not a sovereignty over, but in themselves. 
So self- sufficiency, self-consequence" etc. (Malone). Schmidt takes 
it to be = " that self sovereignty," or that same sovereignty, which 
is better. 

37. Praise sake. The possessive inflection is often omitted 
before sake when the noun ends in a sibilant, and sometimes in 
other cases. Cf. "fashion sake" (A. Y. L. iii. 2. 271), "oath 
sake" (T. N. iii. 4. 326), etc. 

41. The commonwealth. That is, of the " new-modelled society " 
of the king and his associates (Mason). Johnson makes it = "the 
common people." 

42. God dig-you-den. God give you good even. Cf. R. and J. 
i. 2. 57, ii. 4. 116, Cor. ii. 1. 193, iv. 6. 20, etc. 

56. Break up this capon. That is, open this letter. Here break 
up is = the preceding carve. It is applied to opening a despatch 
(the "sealed-up oracle") in W. T. iii. 2. 132: "Break up the 
seals and read." See also M. of V. ii. 4. 10: " to break up this" 
(a letter). Capon is used like poulet in French for a love-letter. 
Farmer quotes Henry IV. as saying : " My niece of Guise would 
please me best, notwithstanding the malicious reports that she 
loves poulets in paper better than in a fricasee." Note the rhyme 
of serve (pronounced sarve) with carve ; and cf. the rhymes of con- 
vert and desert with part, art, etc., in Sonn. n. 4, 14. 12, 17. 2, 49. 
10, and 72. 6. On the other hand, kerve is an old spelling of carve, 
and it may have been so pronounced in the time of S. 



180 Notes [Act iv 

57. Importeth. Concerneth. 

58. Swear. The rhyme with here suggests that it may have been 
pronounced sweer (Furness). 

65. Illustrate. Illustrious ; used again by Holofernes in v. 1. 
1 22 below. It is often used by Chapman ; as in Iliad, xi. : " Illus- 
trate Hector." For King Cophetua, see on i. 2. no above. 

68. Annothanize. Explain. The quartos and 1st folio have 
" annothanize," the later folios " anatomize," which many eds. fol- 
low. Either word would suit Armado well enough. 

87-92. Thus dost thou hear, etc. These lines are appended to 
the letter as a quotation, and Warburton thought that they were 
really from some ridiculous poem of the time. The Nemean lion 
is mentioned again in Ham. i. 4. 83, where Nemean is accented as 
here on the first syllable. 

92. Repasture. Repast, food ; used by S. only here. 

96. Going o'er it. For the play upon style, see on i. I. 200 above. 
Erewhile = just now. 

98. Phantasime. Fantastic ; as in v. 1. 18 below, but nowhere 
else in S. Monarcho was the name of an Italian, a fantastic char- 
acter of the time, referred to by Meres, Nash, Churchyard, and 
other writers. See p. 1 7 above. 

107. Suitor ? This seems to have been pronounced shooter, and 
that is the spelling of the early eds. here. Steevens and Malone 
quote sundry passages from contemporary writers illustrating the 
old pronunciation. In A. and C. v. 2. 105, Pope and Malone took 
the " suites " or " suits " of the folio to be an error for " shoots." 
Here, however, Furness thinks that " shooter " (in the literal sense) 
should be retained ; and this, as he says, is favoured by Rosaline's 
reply, " Why, she that bears the bow." 

108. My continent of beauty. That is, embodiment of beauty. 
Cf. Ham. v. 2. 1 15 : "you shall find in him the continent of what 
part a gentleman would see." S. uses the word only in this ety- 
mological sense of container. 

113. Your deer. The play on deer and dear was a favourite 



Scene I] Notes 181 

one. Cf. V. and A. 231, P. P. 300, M. W.\.$. 18, 123, T. of S. 
v. 2. 56, 1 Hen. IV v. 4. 107, Macb. iv. 3. 206, etc. 

114. By the horns. The much-worn joke on the horns of the 
cuckold. 

122. Queen Guinever. The unfaithful queen of Arthur; men- 
tioned by S. only here. 

131. Prick. The point in the centre of the mark, or target. 
Mete at = to measure with the eye in aiming, hence to aim at. 

132. Wide 0' the bow-hand. "A good deal to the left of the 
mark; a term still retained in modern archery" (Douce). The 
bow-hand was the hand holding the bow, or the left hand. 

133. Clout. "The white mark at which archers took their aim. 
The pin was the wooden pin that upheld it" (Steevens). Cf. 2 
Hen. IV. iii. 2. 51 and Lear, iv. 6. 92 ; and for pin, R. and J. ii. 

4- 15- 

136. Greasily. Grossly ; the only instance of the word in S. 

138. Rubbing. A term in bowling. Cf. T. and C. iii. 2. 52. 
The noun rub in the same sense occurs often figuratively ; as in 
K.John, iii. 4. 128, Hen. V. ii. 2. 188, v. 2. 33, etc. 

141-147. O' my troth . . . nit ! These lines are evidently out 
of place, and Staunton was probably right in supposing that they 
belong after line 136 (" My sweet ounce," etc.) in iii. 1, where I 
put them in my former edition. It now seems to me better to 
leave them where they stand in the early eds., as Staunton did, 
though I still believe that they belong elsewhere. There is no line 
rhyming to 141, and some suppose one to have been lost ; but it 
is quite as probable that 141 is either an interpolation, or a line 
struck out by the poet in revising the play, but accidentally retained 
by the transcriber or printer. See on iv. 3. 298 below. 

143. Armado 0' th? one side. The 1st quarto has " Armatho ath 
toothen side," and the folio " Armathor ath to the side." The 
text is due to Rowe. 

147. Pathetical. The word has already been used by Armado 
in i. 2. 92 above. Just what either he or Costard means by it must 



1 82 Notes [Act iv 

be matter of conjecture. S. has it nowhere else, except in A. Y. L. 
iv. i. 196, where it appears to be also an affectation. For the per- 
sonal use of nit, cf. T. of S. iv. 3. no, the only other instance of 
the word in S. 

148. Sola, sola ! Costard hears the noise of the hunters, and 
runs to join them, with a shout to attract their attention. Cf. 
M. of V.v. 1. 39, where Launcelot enters with the same cry. 

Scene II. — 3. Sanguis, in blood. In blood was a term of the 
chase = in full vigour. Cf. I Hen. VI. iv. 2. 48 : " If we be English 
deer, be then in blood," etc. Some regard sanguis as a blunder 
for the Italian sanguigno (full of blood), and ccelo as for cielo 
(Italian). 

4. Pomewater. A kind of apple. Steevens quotes an old ballad : 
" Whose cheeks did resemble two rosting pomewaters." In The 
Puritan, " the pomewater of his eye " is = the apple of his eye. 

10. A buck of the first head. According to The Return from 
Parnassus, 1606 (quoted by Steevens), "a buck is the first year, a 
fawn; the second year, a pricket; the third year, a sorrell; the 
fourth year, a soare; the fifth, a buck of the first head; the sixth 
year, a compleat buck." 

n. Sir. The title Sir was formerly applied to priests and 
curates in general. Nares explains the usage thus: " Dominus, 
the academical title of a bachelor of arts, was usually rendered by 
Sir in English at the universities ; therefore, as most clerical per- 
sons had taken that first degree, it became usual to style them Sir." 
Latimer speaks of " a Sir John, who hath better skill in playing at 
tables, or in keeping a garden, then in God's word." 

18. Unconfirmed. Inexperienced, ignorant; as in Much Ado, 
iii. 3. 124: "That shows thou art unconfirmed." 

22. Twice-sod. Sod, like sodden, is the participle of seethe. Cf. 
R. of L. 1592: "sod in tears," etc. Twice-sod simplicity = con- 
centrated stupidity, as if boiled down. 

29. Which we, etc. In the folio this reads : " which we taste 



Scene II] Notes 183 

and feeling, are for those parts," etc. Various emendations have 
been proposed, of which Tyrwhitt's in the text seems the best, and 
is adopted by the majority of recent editors. 

31. Patch. A play on the word in its sense of fool, for which 
see M. of V. ii. 5. 46, or M. N. D. iii. 2. 9. Johnson says: "The 
meaning is, to be in a school would as ill become a patch as folly 
would become me." 

36. Dictynna. One of the names of Diana. Steevens suggests 
that S. may have found the word in Golding's Ovid : " Dictynna 
garded with her traine, and proud of killing deere ; " but he had 
probably read the original Latin {Met. ii. 441) in school. 

40. Raught. An old past tense and participle of reach. For its 
use as the former, cf. Hen. V. iv. 6. 21 ; and as the latter, A. and C. 
iv. 9. 30. 

41. The allusion holds in the exchange. " The riddle is as good 
when I use the name of Adam as when I use the name of Cain " 
(Warburton). Mr. Brae takes allusion to be used in the strict 
Latin sense of " play, joke, or jest," and makes exchange = " the 
changing of the moon." 

55. Affect the letter. "Practise alliteration" (Mason). For 
another satire on this affectation of the time, cf. M. N. D. v. I. 
145 fol. 

58. Some say a sore. For sore, or soare, as applied to a deer 
"of the fourth year," see on 10 above; also for sorel in the next 
line. 

61. O sore L ! The 1st quarto has " o sorell," and the folios "O 
sorell." The reading in the text is Capell's, and is generally 
adopted. The Cambridge ed. has "makes fifty sores one sorel," 
which is plausible and perhaps favoured by the next line. 

64. If a talent be a claw. The play on talent and talon is obvi- 
ous. The latter word was sometimes written talent. Malone cites, 
among other instances, Marlowe's Tamburlaine, 1590: — 

" and now doth ghastly death 
With greedy tallents gripe my bleeding heart." 



184 Notes [Act iv 

Claw was sometimes = humour, flatter. Cf. Much Ado, i. 3. 18: 
" claw no man in his humour." The origin of the metaphor is illus- 
trated by 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 282. Reed quotes Wilson, Discourse 
upon Usury, 1572: "therefore I will clawe him, and saye well 
might he fare, and godds blessing have he too. For the more he 
speaketh, the better it itcheth, and maketh better for me." 

69. Ventricle of memory. The brain was supposed to have three 
ventricles or chambers, one of which was the seat of memory. 

70. Pia mater. The membrane covering the brain, used for 
the brain itself; as in T. N. i. 5. 123 and T. and C. ii. I. 77. 
Upon the mellowing of occasion = at " the very riping of the time " 
(M. of V. ii. 8. 40), or when the fit occasion comes. See also 
T. N. i. 2. 43 : " Till I had made my own occasion mellow ; " 
that is, till the time was ripe. So mellowed — ripe in Rich. III. 
iii. 7. 168, etc. 

83. Person. " Parson " (the reading of the 2d folio) . Steevens 
quotes Holinshed : " Jerom was vicar of Stepnie, and Garrard was 
person of Honielane," etc. Staunton adds from Selden, Table 
Talk : " Though we write Parson differently, yet 't is but Person ; 
that is, the individual Person set apart for the service of the Church, 
and 't is in Latin Persona, and Personatus is a Personage." For 
the play on pierce (which was perhaps pronounced perse), cf. 
1 Hen. IV. v. 3. 59. Pierce rhymes with rehearse in Rich. II. 
v. 3. 127. 

97. Mantuan! Giovanni Battista Spagnuoli (or Spagnoli), 
named Mantuanus from his birthplace, who died in 15 16, was 
the author of certain Eclogues which the pedants of that day pre- 
ferred to Virgil's, and which were read in schools. The 1st 
Eclogue begins with the passage quoted by Holofernes. Malone 
quotes references to Mantuanus from Nash and Drayton. A trans- 
lation of his Latin poems by George Turbervile was printed in 1567. 
Mr. Andrew Lang, in his comments on this play {Harper's Maga- 
zine, May, 1893), takes the Mantuan to be Virgil, as other critics 
have sometimes done. 



Scene ii] Notes 185 

99. Venetia, etc. In the folio this reads : " vemchie, vencha, que 
non te vnde, que non te perreche," which exactly follows the 1st 
quarto. The text is taken by the Cambridge editors from Florio's 
Second Frutes, 1591, whence the poet probably got it. There it 
has the second line, " Ma chi te vede, ben gli costa." In Howell's 
Letters, it appears with a translation, thus : — 

" Venetia, Venetia, chi non te vede, non te pregia, 
Ma chi t' ha troppo veduto te dispregia. 

Venice, Venice, none thee unseen can prize ; 
Who thee hath seen too much, will thee despise." 

It is usually printed in the form in which Theobald gives it : — 

"Vinegia, Vinegia, 
Chi non te vede, ei non te pregia." 

108. If love, etc. This sonnet appears, with a few verbal varia- 
tions, in P. P. v. 

112. Bias. Originally a term in bowling. Cf. T. of S. iv. 5. 25, 
Rich. II. iii. 4. 5, etc. 

118. Thy voice, etc. Malone compares A. and C. v. 2. 83 : — 

" his voice was propertied 
As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends ; 
But when he meant to quail and shake the orb 
He was as rattling thunder." 

122. You find not the apostrophas. Knight understands this to 
refer to the apostrophes in vow'd and bow'd (109 and in above) 
and therefore prints these " vowed" and " bowed." It more prob- 
ably refers to the metrical imperfection in the last line of the poem, 
which should be an Alexandrine. In the 1st quarto sings is printed 
singes, which may have been intended as a dissyllable. Some 
editors read "sings the," and others "singeth." The New Eng. 
Diet, suggests that apostrophas should be " apostrophus " (the mark 
of omission), and Furness believes that it certainly should. 

128. Imitari. To imitate (Latin). 

129. The tired horse. The early eds. have "tyred" for tired 



1 86 Notes [Act iy 

(= attired, or arrayed). It is possibly another allusion to Bankes's 
horse (see on i. 2. 52 above), as Farmer explains it ; tired being = 
"adorned with ribbons." Tired may, however, have its ordinary 
meaning ; the horse sympathizing with his master, as in Sonn. 50. 5 : 

" The beast that bears me, tired with my woe, 
Plods dully on," etc. 

132. Ay, sir, from one Monsieur Biron. " S. forgot himself in 
this passage. Jaquenetta knew nothing of Biron, and had said just 
before that the letter had been sent to her from Don Armado and 
given to her by Costard" (Mason). There is probably some cor- 
ruption, but no satisfactory emendation has been suggested. 

136. Intellect. Used peculiarly for " sense, purport " {New Eng. 
Diet.) and explained by what follows. Baynes may, however, be 
right in making it = signature. 

145. Stay not thy compliment ; I forgive thy duty. That is, do 
not tarry to make any formal obeisance ; I excuse you from that. 
Cf. M. N. D. iv. 1. 21 : " Pray you, leave your courtesy, good moun- 
sieur." 

154. Colourable colours. "That is, specious or fair-seeming 
appearances" (Johnson); or "false pretexts" (Schmidt). For 
colour {= pretext), cf. M. W. iv. 2. 168, W. T. iv. 4. 566, /. C. ii. 
1. 29, etc. 

158. Before repast. The quarto reading. The folio has " (being 
repast)," which might mean "being repasted," or having dined. 

161. Ben venuto. Welcome (Italian). It is used again in T. 
of S. i. 2. 282. 

167. Certes. Certainly. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 30, C. of E. iv. 4. 78, 
etc. Schmidt considers it monosyllabic in Hen. VIII. i. I. 48 and 
Oth. i. 1. 16. 

169. Pauca verba. Few words (Latin). 

Scene III. — 2. Pitched a toil. Set a net. Toiling in a pitch 
alludes to Rosaline's complexion (Johnson) ; or her black eyes 
(Furness). Cf. iii. 1. 198 above. 



Scene in] Notes 187 

4. Set thee down, Sorrow! A proverbial expression. Cf. i. 1. 
296 above. 

5. And ay the fool. The folio has "I" for ay, as regularly, and 
the editors generally take it for the personal pronoun. They may 
be right, but ay ( = ever) gives essentially the same meaning : " and 
so say I, and ever the fool in doing it." White makes ay a verb = 
" confirm." 

7. It kills sheep. Alluding to the story that Ajax, when the arms 
of Hector were adjudged to Ulysses instead of himself, slew a whole 
flock of sheep, which, in his insane fury, he mistook for the sons of 
Atreus. In ay, a sheep, the ay is used, as often, for emphasis : " it 
kills me, verily a sheep." 

12. Lie in my throat. A common expression. Cf. T. N. iii. 4. 
172, Rich. III. i. 2. 93, etc. 

18. If the other three were in. That is, in the same predicament 
with himself. 

20. Gets up into a tree. The old stage-direction is " He stands 
aside;" which was all that the humble scenic arrangements of that 
day could afford ; but it is evident from 77 below that Biron is 
meant to be above the others. 

23. Bird-bolt. A blunt-headed arrow, used to kill birds without 
piercing them. Cf. Much Ado, i. 1. 42 and T. N.\. 5. 100. 

28. The night of dew. The dewy night, the tears of sorrow. 
The lady's eye-beams are the morning sunshine on these dew-drops 
of his grief. Cf. V. and A. 481 fol. 

31. As doth thy face, etc. Malone compares V. and A. 491 : — 
" But hers, which through the crystal tears gave light, 
Shone like the moon in water seen by night." 

34. Triumphing. Accented on the second syllable ; as in R. 
of L. 1388, I Hen. IV. v. 3. 15, v. 4. 14, Rich. III. iii. 4. 91, iv. 4. 
59, etc. 

46. Perjure. Perjurer. " The punishment of perjury is to wear 
on the breast a paper expressing the crime" (Johnson). Steevens 
quotes several references to the penalty. 



1 88 Notes [Act iv 

51. Comer-cap. The biretta, or three-cornered cap of the 
Catholic priest. Marshall quotes The New Custom, 1573: "he 
will have priests no corner-cap to wear." 

53. Love's Tyburn. The gallows at Tyburn was sometimes of 
triangular form. 

57. Guards. Facings, trimmings. Cf. Much Ado, i. I. 289: 
" the guards are but slightly basted on," etc. For hose = breeches, 
see A. Y. L. ii. 7. 160, etc. 

58. Slop. Slops were large loose trowsers. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 
34 : " my short cloak and my slops ; " R. and J. ii. 4. 47 : " your 
French slop." Steevens quotes Jonson, Alchemist: — 

" six great slops 
Bigger than three Dutch hoys." 

Did not the heavenly rhetoric, etc. This sonnet also appears 
in P. P. iii. A comparison of the two versions will show some 
slight verbal differences. 

71. To lose an oath. By losing an oath. This "indefinite use" 
of the infinitive is very common in S. 

72. The liver-vein. For the liver as the seat of love, cf. Te?np. 
iv. 1. 56: "the ardour of my liver; " Much Ado, iv. I. 253: "If 
ever love had interest in his liver," etc. 

76. All hid, all hid. " The children's cry at hide and seek " 
(Musgrave). 

79. More sacks to the mill! The name of a boyish sport. 

80. Woodcocks. The bird was supposed to have no brains, and 
hence was a common metaphor for a fool. Cf. T. of S. i. 2. 161, 
A. W. iv. 1. 100, etc. 

84. She is not, corporal. Biron styles Dumain corporal as he 
has before called himself " a corporal of his (Love's) field," with 
perhaps an allusion to the word mortal just used by Dumain. 

85. Quoted. Noted, marked. Cf. K. John, iv. 2. 222 : — 

" A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd, 
Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame," etc. 



Scene III] Notes 189 

See also v. 2. 784 below. In the early eds. the word is spelt 
"coted" in both passages, as it was pronounced. The meaning 
is that " amber itself is regarded as foul when compared with her 
hair" (Mason). 

87. Stoop. Schmidt thinks this maybe an adjective = crooked ; 
and Herford so explains it. 

94. Reigns in my blood. For the figure, cf. Ham. iv. 3. 68: 
" For like the hectic in my blood he rages." 

95. Incision. Blood-letting ; the only sense in S. Cf. M. of V. 
ii. I. 6, A. Y. L. iii. 2. 75, Rich. II. i. 1. 155, Hen. V. iv. 2. 9, etc. 

96. Misprision ! Mistake, misapprehension. Cf. Much Ado, iv. 
I. 187: "some strange misprision." 

97. Saucers. Bleeding in fevers was common in the time of S.; 
and the barber-surgeons used to exhibit saucers of blood as the 
sign of their profession (Halliwell-Phillipps) . 

99. On a day, etc. This poem is in P. P. xvii., and also in 
England's Helicon, 16 14. 

104. Can passage find. In the P. P. we find "gan" for can. 
The latter is an old spelling of gan. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 46 : 
"With gentle words he can her fayrely greet," etc. 

105. That. So that ; as in v. 2. 9 below. 

106. Wished. The reading in P. P. and the 2d folio ; the 
quartos and 1st folio have "wish." 

109. Is sworn. " Hath sworn "in P. P. and England's Helicon. 

1 10. Thorn. " Throne " in the early eds. and P. P. ; corrected 
by Rowe from England's Helicon. 

133. Wreathed. Folded. Cf. T. G. of V.\\. 1. 19: "to wreathe 
your arms," etc. 

148. Know so much by me. That is, about me. Cf. A. W. v. 3. 
237 : " By him and by this woman here what know you ? " See 
also 1 Corinthians, iv. 4: "I know nothing by myself" (that is, 
against myself). 

149. Advancing. White has "Descends," and remarks: "The 
original has no stage-direction here. It is noteworthy that Biron 



190 Notes [Act iv 

does not say ' Now I descend] but ' Now step I forth] which betrays 
the poet's consciousness that, although he imagined the character 
to be in a tree, the actor who played it would be on the same plane 
with the others." I am inclined, however, to think that " Advan- 
cing'''' is the proper stage-direction, and that step I forth refers to his 
coming forward after descending from the tree. 

153. Coaches ; in, etc. The early eds. have "couches in," etc. ; 
corrected by Hanmer. Cf. 30 above. 

156. Like of. See on i. I. 107 above. 

159. Mote . . . mote. The early eds. have "moth." Cf. p. 154 
. above. 

162. Teen. Grief, pain. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 64: "To think o' the 
teen that I have turn'd you to," etc. 

164. Gnat! That is, an insignificant creature. Schmidt com- 
pares Per. ii. 3. 62: "And princes not doing so are like to gnats." 
Mason says : " Biron is abusing the king for his sonneting like a 
minstrel, and compares him to a gnat, which always sings as it 
flies." From the context it is quite as likely that gnat is simply 
a hit at the king for " coming down " to such petty business as 
love-making. 

165. Gig. A kind of top. Cf. v. 1. 67, 69 below. S. uses the 
word nowhere else. 

166. Profound. Accented on the first syllable because coming 
before a noun accented on the first syllable. Cf. Ham. iv. 1. 1 : 
"There 's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves." See, on 
the other hand, v. 2. 52 below, or Sonn. 112. 9. See also on i. 1. 
136 above. 

167. Push-pin. A child's game. 

168. Critic Timon. Cynical Timon. See on hi. I. 177 above. 
S. uses the adjective only here, but we have critical = censorious, 
in M. N. D.y. 1. 54 and Oth. ii. I. 120 (the only instances of the 
word). 

172. A caudle, ho! A caudle was a warm, cordial drink, often 
used for the sick. The folios misprint "candle" (the 1st quarto 



Scene Hi] Notes 191 

has caudle), as in 2 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 95, the only other instance of 
the noun in S. 

179. With men, etc. The folio has "with men, like men of 
inconstancie " ("strange inconstancy" in later folios). The text 
was suggested by Walker, and is adopted by Dyce, the Cambridge 
editors, and others. 

181. Pruning me. Adorning myself. " The metaphor is taken 
from a cock, who in his pride prunes himself; that is, picks off the 
loose feathers, to smooth the rest. To prune and to plume, spoken 
of a bird, is the same" (Johnson). Cf. Cymb. v. 4. 118: — 

" his royal bird 
Prunes the immortal wing," etc. 

183. State. Mode of standing, as opposed to gait ; attitude. 
Cf. station in Ham. hi. 4. 58 and A. and C. iii. 3. 22. 

185. True man. Often opposed to thief. Cf. Much Ado, iii. 
3. 54, etc. 

187. Present. Document to be presented. Some see an allusion 
to the legal formula "Be it known to all men by these presents;" 
but this seems unnecessary. 

188. Makes. Does. Cf. A. Y. L. i. 1. 31: "What make you 
here ? " This use of the word was very common, and is played 
upon, as here, in Rich. III. i. 3. 164 fol. 

192. Person. Parson ; the reading of the early eds. See on 
iv. 2. 83 above. 

199. Toy. Trifle; as in 168 above. Cf. I Hen. VI. iv. I. 145: 
" a toy, a thing of no regard," etc. 

205. Mess. Sometimes = a party of four, as "at great dinners 
the company was usually arranged into fours" (Nares). Cf. v. 2. 
363 below, and see also 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 73: "your mess of 
sons." 

210. Turtles. Turtle-doves ; the only sense in S. Cf. v. 2. 903 
below. 

Sirs. The plural is mostly used in addressing persons of lower 



192 Notes [Act iv 

rank than the speaker, and sometimes women are included, as 
here. Cf. A. and C. iv. 15. 85, and Sirrah in Id. v. 2. 229. 

217. Of all hands. "At any rate, in any case" (Schmidt). 
Some make it = " on all sides, on every account." 

221. Gorgeous east. Milton has adopted this in P. L. ii. 3: 
" Or where the gorgeous east with richest hand," etc. 

222. Strucken. The early eds. have " strooken." Other old 
forms are stroken, strook, and stricken. 

238. To things of sale, etc. Malone quotes Sonn. 21. 14: "I 
will not praise that purpose not to sell." 
251. No face, etc. Cf. Sonn. 132. 13: — 

" Then will I swear beauty herself is black, 
And all they foul that thy complexion lack." 

See also Sonn. 127. 

253. Shade. The early eds. have " schoole " or " school." Vari- 
ous changes have been suggested; as "scowl," "stole," "soul," 
"soil," "scroll," "shroud," "seal," and "suit." 

254. And beauty's crest, etc. " Crest is here properly opposed 
to badge. Black, says the king, is the badge of hell, but that which 
graces the heaven is the crest of beauty. Black darkens hell, and 
is therefore hateful ; white adorns heaven, and is therefore lovely" 
(Johnson). Toilet says: "In heraldry, a crest is a device placed 
above a coat of arms. S. therefore uses it in a sense equivalent to 
top or utmost height." Cf. K. John, iv. 3. 46. 

257. Usurping hair. On Shakespeare's repugnance to false 
hair, cf. M. of V. hi. 2. 92, T. of A. iv. 3. 144, Sonn. 68. 5, etc. 
For his allusions to painting, cf. M. for M. iii. 2. 83, iv. 2. 40, 
T. of A. iv. 3. 147, Ham. v. 1. 213, W. T. iv. 4, 101, etc. 

266. Crack. Boast. Cf. Cymb. v. 5. 177: — 

"our brags 
Were crack'd of kitchen-trulls." 

276. Here's thy love. Alluding of course to his black shoe. 



Scene in] Notes 193 

Johnson thought it necessary to insert an explanatory stage-direc- 
tion, and many editors follow him. 

284. Flattery. "Gratifying deception" (Schmidt), or " sooth- 
ing remedy" (Herford). 

286. Quillets. Casuistries, subtleties, nice distinctions of logic 
or law. Cf. 1 Hen. VI. ii. 4. 17 : " these nice sharp quillets of the 
law; " Ham. v. 1. 108: "his quiddits now, his quillets," etc. 

295. Book. Some editors put a colon or semicolon after this 
word. 

297-302. For when . . . fire. These lines are evidently a part 
of the first sketch of the play accidentally retained in the revision. 
They are repeated in new form below. The same is true of 310- 
317 below. See p. 11 above. 

305. Poisons up. For the intensive use of up, cf. "kill them 
up" in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 62. See also flatter up in v. 2. 812 below. 
Many editors follow Theobald in reading " prisons up ; " but the 
simile which follows seems to favour the old text. There is a 
closer analogy between poisoning and tiring than between prison- 
ing and tiring. The early eds. all have " poysons." The Cam- 
bridge editors, after adopting "prisons," return to poisons in the 
Globe ed. 

311. Teaches such beauty, etc. "That is, a lady's eyes give a 
fuller notion of beauty than any author" (Johnson). 

317. Our books. "That is, our true books, from which we de- 
rive most information — the eyes of women" (Malone). 

320. Numbers. " Poetical measures " (Johnson). 

322. Keep. Occupy, hold. 

334. When the suspicious head of theft is stopped. " That is, a 
lover in pursuit of his mistress has his sense of hearing quicker 
than a thief (who suspects every sound he hears) in pursuit of his 
prey" ( Warburton) . 

335. Sensible. Sensitive; as in Temp. ii. I. 174: "sensible 
and nimble lungs," etc. 

338. Valour. The reference is of course to the daring of Her- 
love's labour — 13 



1 94 Notes [Act iv 

cules in attempting to get the golden apples. Hesperides is used 
for the Gardens of the Hesperides. Cf. Per. i. I. 27: — 

" Before thee stands this fair Hesperides, 
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch'd ; 
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard." 

Malone quotes Greene's Friar Bacon, etc., 1598: "That watch' d 
the garden call'd Hesperides." 

342. Voice. Possibly the word is a plural, like sense in Sonn. 
112. 10, etc. The plural verb may, however, be explained as an 
instance of "confusion of proximity." The meaning of the pas- 
sage may be, " When love speaks, the accordant voice of all the 
gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony " (Clarke) ; or, per- 
haps, when love speaks, it is like the voices of all the gods blended 
in soul-soothing harmony. 

356. A tvord that loves all men. Malone thinks this means 
"that is pleasing to all men," and compares, the impersonal use of 
" it likes me " = it pleases me. Of course there is no analogy 
whatever between the two. The expression was used for the sake 
of the antithesis, and probably with a somewhat loose reference to 
the idea that love affects all men, or, possibly, is a blessing to all 
men. Herford suggests : " probably the contrast intended is be- 
tween wisdom, which all profess to admire, and love, which attracts 
them by an irresistible magnetism, whether they will or no." 

367. Get the sun of them. As Malone notes, it was an advan- 
tage in the days of archery to have the sun at the back of the bow- 
men and in the face of the enemy ; as Henry V. found at the 
battle of Agincourt. There is a play on sun and son. 

368. Glozes. Sophistries, special pleadings ; the only instance 
of the noun in S. For the verb, see Hen. V. i. 2. 40, T. and C. 
ii. 2. 165, etc. 

378. Love. Venus ; as often. 

380. Be time. That is, be sufficient time (Clarke). Some read 
"betime" (= betide, chance), a verb which S. nowhere uses. 



Scene I] Notes 195 

381. A lions ! allons ! Cf. v. 1. 152 below. 

SovJd cockle reaped no com. " This proverbial expression inti- 
mates that, beginning with perjury, they can expect to reap nothing 
but falsehood" (Warburton) . 



ACT V 

Scene I. — 1. Satis quod suffcil. "Enough's as good as a 
feast " (Steevens). 

2. Reasons. Arguments ; or, perhaps, as Johnson and others 
explain it, " discourse, conversation." 

4. Affection. "Affectation" (2d folio). In Ham. ii. 2. 464, the 
quartos have " affection," the folios " affectation." See also on v. 
2. 409 below. Affectioned {= affected) occurs in T. N. ii. 3. 160. 

5. Opinion. Dogmatism ; or, perhaps, self-conceit. 

9. Novi hominem tanquam te. I know the man as well as I do 
you. 

10. His tongue filed. His speech is polished or refined. Cf. 
Sonn. 85. 4 : " And precious phrase by all the muses fil'd," etc. 

12. Thrasonical. Boastful ; like Thraso in Terence's Eunuchus. 
Cf. A. Y. L. v. 2. 34 : " Caesar's thrasonical brag," etc. 

13. Picked. Over-refined, fastidious. Cf. Ham. v. 1. 15 1 : "the 
age is grown so picked ; " and K. John, i. 1. 193 : " My picked man 
of countries." Travellers were much given to this affectation ; 
which explains peregrinate here. 

18. Phantasimes. Fantastics. See on iv. I. 98 above. Point- 
device = finical, " up to the best mark devisable ; " as in A. Y. L. 
iii. 2. 401 : "you are rather point-device in your accoutrements." 
For companions used contemptuously (= fellows), cf. J. C. iv. 3. 
138, Cor. v. 2. 65, C. of E. iv. 4. 64, etc. 

19. Packers of orthography. White remarks: "This passage 
has especial interest on account of its testimony to the condition of 
our language when it was written. In his pedagoguish wrath, the 
Pedant lets us know that consonants now silent were then heard 



196 



Notes [Act v 



on the lips of purists, that compound words preserved the forms and 
sounds of their elements, and that vowels were pronounced more 
purely and openly than they now are. The change from the ancient 
to what may be called the modern pronunciation appears to have 
begun, among the more cultivated classes, just before S. commenced 
his career, and to have been completed in the course of about fifty 
years — that is, from about 1575 to about 1625. . . . With regard 
to the completion of this change, the following passages from 
Charles Butler's English Grammar, Oxford, 1633, are decisive: 
' Another use of the letters is to show the derivation of a word : 
namely, when we keep a letter in the derivative, &c. . . . also 
when a letter not sounded in the English is yet written, because it 
is in the language from which the word came : as b in debt, doubt ; 
e in George; g in deseign, flegme, reign, signe ; h in Thomas, 
authoriti ; I in salve, &c. . . . L after a and before f, v, k, or m is 
vulgarly sounded like u (or, with the a, like the diphthong au) ; 
before f as in calf, half; before v as in salv, calvs, halvs, etc' " It 
is doubtful, however, whether the b in debt and doubt was ever 
sounded ; but debit was still in use in the sense of debt, and Holo- 
fernes may have pedantically assumed that both in debt and doubt, 
the b of the Latin original ought to be sounded. 

24. Abhominable. The old spelling, and evidently also the pro- 
nunciation, of the word. 

25. Insinuateth me. Intimates or suggests to me. 

Ne intelligis ? Do you understand ? Johnson conjectures 
" nonne " for ne. 

2.*j. Laus Deo, etc. The folio reads here : — 

" Cura. Laus Deo, bene intelligo. 
Peda. Borne boon for boon prescian, a little scratcht, 'rwil serue." 

The reading in the text is due to Theobald, who says : "The curate, 
addressing with complaisance his brother pedant, says bone to him, 
as we frequently in Terence find bone vir ; but the pedant, think- 
ing he had mistaken the adverb, thus descants on it : ' Bone — bone 



Scene i] Notes 197 

for bene: Priscian a little scratched: 't will serve.' Alluding to 
the common phrase, Diminuis Prisciani caput, applied to such as 
speak false Latin." This is ingenious, but I doubt whether it is 
anything more than a plausible mending of a hopelessly corrupt 
passage. It is, however, much to be preferred to the modification 
of it in the modern editions that have adopted it. These, without 
exception (at least, so far as I am aware), read "bone intelligo," 
making Nathaniel actually wrong in the use of the adverb. It is 
hardly conceivable that he should be guilty of a blunder for which 
a schoolboy ought to be whipped ; and besides he has used the 
correct form in " omne bene," in iv. 2. 32 above — a fact which all 
the editors appear to have overlooked. It is certainly more reason- 
able to suppose, as Theobald does, that Nathaniel's bone is the voc- 
ative of the adjective, and that Holofernes takes it to be a slip for 
the adverb ; which is natural enough, as bene intelligo is a common 
phrase. Being a pedagogue, and used to hearing such blunders 
from his pupils, it does not occur to him that Nathaniel would not 
be likely to make them. 

The Cambridge editors retain the bene intelligo, and make Holo- 
fernes reply : " Bon, bon, fort bon, Priscian ! a little scratched ; 
't will serve." They say : " Holofernes patronizingly calls Sir 
Nathaniel Priscian, but, pedagogue-like, will not admit his perfect 
accuracy." It seems improbable, however, that he would play the 
critic in a case like this, where the construction is so simple that no 
possible question could be raised about it. Besides, the pedant 
does not elsewhere quote French, and Latin might naturally be 
expected from him here. 

30. Videsne quis venit ? Do you see who is coming ? 

31. Video, et gaudeo. I see, and rejoice. 

38. Alms-basket of words. The refuse of words. As Malone 
notes, the refuse meat of families was put into a basket and given 
to the poor. He cites Florio's Second Frutes, 1591 : "Take away 
the table, fould up the cloth, and put all these pieces of broken 
meat into a basket for the poor." 



198 Notes [Act v 

41. Honorijicabilitudinitatibus. "This word, whencesoever it 
comes, is often mentioned as the longest word known" (John- 
son). 

42. Flap-dragon. " Some small combustible body, fired at one 
end, and put afloat in a glass of liquor" (Johnson). Cf. 2 Hen. 
IV. ii. 4. 267 : " drinks off candle-ends for flap-dragons." Alm- 
onds, plums, or raisins were commonly used for the purpose. 

46. Horn-book. The child's primer, the single page of which, 
set in a wooden frame, was covered with thin horn, to keep it from 
being soiled or torn. S. uses the word only here. 

49. Pueritia. Literally, boyhood ; used affectedly for puer, boy. 

52. Quis. Who. 

54. The fifth, if I. Knight says : "The pedant asks who is the 
silly sheep — quis, quis ? ' The third of the five vowels if you re- 
peat them,' says Moth ; and the pedant does repeat them — a, e, 
I; the other two clinch it, says Moth, o, u (O you). This may 
appear a poor conundrum, and a low conceit, as Theobald has it, 
but the satire is in opposing the pedantry of the boy to the ped- 
antry of the man, and making the pedant have the worst of it in 
what he calls ' a quick venew of wit.' " 

59. Venue. Touch, hit ; a fencing term. It is the same as 
veney in M. W. i. 1. 296. 

60. Home. That is, a home thrust. Cf. v. 2. 634 below. 

63. Wit-old ! A play upon wittol (= cuckold), for which cf. 
M. W. ii. 2. 313; the only instance of the word in S. Wittolly 
( = cuckoldly) occurs in the same play, ii. 2. 283. 

69. Circum circa. That is, round and round. 

81. Preambulate. Come forward. 

83. Charge-house. A word not found elsewhere, and possibly a 
corruption. Steevens thought it might be = " a free school " 
(apparently on the lucus a non lucendo principle), but it is more 
likely one at which a fee was charged. Capell takes it to be a cor- 
ruption of Charter-house, as that word is of Chartreuse. 

97. Inward. Confidential, private. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 4. 8 : 



Scene I] Notes 1 99 

" Who is most inward with the royal duke ? " See also the noun 
in M.for M. iii. 2. 138. 

98. Remember thy courtesy. This was a phrase of the time, 
bidding a person who had taken off his hat as an act of courtesy, 
to put it on again. Dr. Ingleby (Shakes. Hermeneutics, p. 74) is 
probably right in his explanation of the origin of the phrase : " It 
arose, we think, as follows : the courtesy was the temporary re- 
moval of the hat from the head, and that was finished as soon as 
the hat was replaced. If any one from ill-breeding or over-polite- 
ness stood uncovered for a longer time than was necessary to per- 
form the simple act of courtesy, the person so saluted reminded 
him of the fact that the removal of the hat was a courtesy : and 
this was expressed by the euphemism ' Remember thy courtesy,' 
which thus implied ' Complete your courtesy, and replace your hat.' " 

99. Importunate. The folio reading. The 1st quarto has 
" importunt," and the Cambridge ed. " important." 

104. Excrement. The word is applied to the hair or beard in 
five out of six passages in which S. uses it. Cf. C. of E. ii. 2. 79, 
M. of V. iii. 2. 87, etc. 

in. Chuck. A term of endearment. Cf. Macb. iii. 2. 45, Oth. 
iii. 4. 49, iv. 2. 24, etc. 

112. Antique. The early eds. use antique and antick indiscrimi- 
nately, but with the accent always on the first syllable. See also 
132 below. 

119. The Nine Worthies. Famous personages, often alluded to, 
and classed somewhat arbitrarily, like the Seven Wonders of the 
World. They were commonly said to be three Gentiles — Hec- 
tor, Alexander, Julius Caesar; three Jews — Joshua, David, Judas 
Maccabseus ; and three Christians — Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey 
of Bouillon. In the present play we find Pompey and Hercules 
among the number. Cf. 2 Hen.IV. ii. 4. 238 : "ten times better 
than the Nine Worthies." 

127. Myself, etc. There is some corruption here, and no satis- 
factory emendation has been suggested. 



200 Notes [Act v 

129. Pass. Pass as, represent. Some editors insert "for" or 
" as." 

135. Present. Represent; as in Temp. iv. 1. 167: "When I 
presented Ceres," etc. See many instances of the word below. 

140. Make an offence gracious. " Convert an offence against 
yourselves into a dramatic propriety" (Steevens). 

147. Fadge. Suit, or turn out well ; as in T. N. ii. 2. 34 : 
" How will this fadge ? " S. uses the word only twice. 

149. Via ! Away (Italian) ; used as " an adverb of encourage- 
ment" (Florio). 

152. Allons ! Cf. iv. 3. 381 above. 

154. The hay. A country-dance with winding or serpentine 
movements {New Eng. Diet.'). To dance the hay was also used 
figuratively for performing sinuous movements or evolutions like 
those of the hay. 

Scene II. — 2. Fairings. Presents (originally, those bought at 
a fair) ; used by S. only here. 

3. A lady, etc. Walker conjectures that this line and the next 
should be transposed ; but it is not an unnatural exclamation as it 
stands. 

10. Wax. Grow ; with an obvious play on the noun. 

12. Shrewd. Mischievous, evil ; the original sense of the word. 
Cf. A. Y. L. v. 4. 179: "That have endur'd shrewd days and 
nights," etc. Unhappy seems to be = roguish ; as in A. W. iv. 5. 
66 : "A shrewd knave and an unhappy." Gallows = one who 
deserves the gallows. 

19. Mouse. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 183 : "call you his mouse." See 
also T. N. i. 5. 69. 

22. Taking it in snuff. A play on the sense of taking it ill, or 
being vexed at it. Cf. Hotspur's quibble in I Hen IV. i. 3. 41. See 
also M. N. D.\. 1. 254. 

28. Past cure is still past care. For the proverb, cf. Sonn. 147. 
9: " Past cure I am, now reason is past care." 



Scene II] Notes 20 1 

29. Bandied. Like set (= game), an allusion to tennis. Cf. 
K.John, v. 2. 107 and Hen. V. i. 2. 262. See also ic\ and J. ii. 5. 
114. 

33. Favour. Present ; playing upon its sense of face. Cf. iv. 
3. 257 above. 

43. Ware pencils. Beware of pencils. Ware is not a contrac- 
tion of beware, as generally printed. " Rosaline says that Biron 
had drawn her picture in his letter ; and afterwards playing on the 
word letter, Katherine compares her to a text B. Rosaline in reply 
advises her to beware of pencils, that is, of drawing likenesses, lest 
she should retaliate ; which she afterward does by comparing her 
to a red dominical letter, and calling her marks of the small-pox 
O's" (Mason). In the old calendars (as in some modern ones) 
the dominical letter denoting Sunday was printed in red. Mar- 
shall thinks that pencils is = pensel, or pensil, " a pennon 
fastened to the end of a lance; " and that the meaning is, "Be 
on your guard ; she means fighting ; " with perhaps a play on 
pencil. 

46. A pox of that jest! Theobald considered this rather coarse 
in the mouth of a princess ; but, as Farmer reminds him, only the 
small-pox is meant. Davison has a canzonet on his lady's " sick- 
nesse of the poxe; " and Dr. Donne writes to his sister: "I found 
Pegge had the poxe — I humbly thank God, it hath not much dis- 
figured her." 

Beshrew was a mild form of imprecation ; and shrow was another 
spelling of shrew (cf. shew and show, etc.), representing the pro- 
nunciation of the word. For the rhyme, cf. T. of S. iv. I. 213, 
v. 2. 28, 188. Dyce omits /, as "in 29 out of 31 examples in S. 
beshrew is a mere exclamatory imprecation." The other instance 
of the verb with a pronoun expressed is in R. and J. v. 2. 26 : 
" She will beshrew me much." 

47. But, Katherine, etc. It has been conjectured that either 
Katherine should be omitted, or we should read " sent you from 
Dumain." 



202 Notes [Act V 

53. Longaville. Here rhyming with mile, as above (iv. 3. 132) 
with compile; but in iv. 3. 122 with ill. 

61. In by the week ! A cant phrase of the time, sometimes = in 
love, as in the old Roister Doister (Staunton). 

65. Hests. The quartos and 1st folio have " device," and the 
later folios "all to my behests." The reading in the text (cf. Temp. 
i. 2. 274, iii. 1. 37, iv. 1. 65) was suggested by Walker; but per- 
haps that of the later folios is to be preferred. 

66. And make him proud, etc. " Make him proud to flatter me 
who make a mock of his flattery" {Edin. Rev. Nov. 1786). 

67. Potent-like. The early eds. have " perttaunt-like " or " per- 
taunt-like." Other emendations are " pedant-like," " portent-like," 
"pageant-like," "potently," and "persaunt-like " (= piercingly). 
Potent-like is due to Singer. Pertaunt has not been satisfactorily 
explained by the few who retain it. 

69. Catch? d. For the form, cf. A. W. i. 3. 176 and R. and J. iv. 
5. 48. We find it as the past tense in Cor. i. 3. 68. 

78. Simplicity. Silliness ; as in 52 above. 

80. In staWd with laughter some see an allusion to the " stitch 
in the side " often caused by laughter. 

82. Encounters. The abstract for the concrete. Encounterers 
occurs in T. and C. iv. 5. 58. 

87. Saint Denis. The patron saint of France. Cf. Hen. V. v. 
2. 193, 220, etc. For Saint Cupid, cf. iv. 3. 364 above. 

88. Charge their breath against us. Make this wordy attack 
upon us. 

92. Addrest. Directed ; as in T. N. i. 4. 15 : " address thy gait 
unto her," etc. 

101. Made a doubt. Expressed the fear. 

104. Audaciously. Boldly, with confidence. 

109. Rubb'd his elbow. A sign of satisfaction. Herford quotes 
Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, iii. 1 : " Oh rare ! I would fain rub 
my elbow now, but I dare not pull my hand." Fleer* d = 
grinned. 



Scene II] Notes 203 

117. Spleen ridiculous. " Ridiculous fit of laughter " (Johnson). 
Cf. M.for M. ii. 2. 122. See also iii. I. 77 above. 

118. Passion 's solemn tears. That is, tears which are usually the 
expression of deep sorrow. Passion is often = violent sorrow ; as 
in Temp. i. 2. 392, etc. See also the verb in i. I. 260 above. 

121. Like Muscovites or Russians. Knight remarks: "For the 
Russian or Muscovite habits assumed by the king and nobles of 
Navarre, we are indebted to Vecellio. At page 303 of the edition 
of 1598, we find a noble Muscovite whose attire sufficiently corre- 
sponds with that described by Hall in his account of a Russian 
masque at Westminster, in the reign of Henry VIII., quoted by 
Ritson in illustration of this play. ' In the first year of King 
Henry VIII.,' says the chronicler, ' at a banquet made for the for- 
eign ambassadors in the Parliament-chamber at Westminster, came 
the Lord Henry Earl of Wiltshire, and the Lord Fitzwalter, in two 
long gowns of yellow satin traversed with white satin, and in every 
bend of white was a bend of crimson satin, after the fashion of 
Russia or' Russland, with furred hats of grey on their heads, either 
of them having an hatchet in their hands, and boots with pikes 
turned up.' The boots in Vecellio's print have no ' pikes turned 
up,' but we perceive the ' long gown ' of figured satin or damask, 
and the ' furred hat.' At page 283 of the same work we are pre- 
sented also with the habit of the Grand Duke of Muscovy, a rich 
and imposing costume which might be worn by his majesty of 
Navarre himself." See the cut (copied from Knight) on p. 147 
above. 

122. Parle. Parley. Cf. R. of L. 100: " parling looks." For 
the noun, see Hen. V. iii. 3. 2, etc. 

123. Love-feat. Plausibly altered by Dyce and others to "love- 
suit ; " but love-feat may include " the various feats of parleying, 
courting, and dancing" (Clarke). 

125. Several. Separate ; as often. Cf. the quibble in ii. I. 223 
above. 

146. To the death. Though death were the consequence of 



204 Notes [Act v 

refusal. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 2. 55 : "I will not do it, to the 
death." 

159. Taffeta. The taffeta masks they wore to conceal them- 
selves. The early eds. give this line to Biron ; corrected by 
Theobald. 

160. Parcel. For the personal use, cf. M. of V. i. 2. 119: "this 
parcel of wooers ; " and A. W. ii. 3. 58 : " this youthful parcel Of 
noble bachelors." 

166. Spirits. Monosyllabic ; as often. 

173. Brings me out. Puts me out. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 262, 265. 

186. Measure. A grave and stately dance. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 
1. 80: "a measure, full of state and ancientry," etc. 

201. Acco??ipt. For the noun, the folio has accompt 13 times 
and account 17 times ; the verb is always account (Schmidt). Cf. 
compt (=■ account) in A. W. v. 3. 57, Macb. i. 6. 26, etc. 

207. Eyne. An old plural of eye ; found without the rhyme in 
R. of L. 1229. 

209. Requesfst. The early eds. have "requests." Second per- 
sons of verbs ending with t are often thus contracted. 

216. The man. That is, the man in the moon. 

220. Nice. Coy, prudish. Cf. iii. I. 22 above. 

222. Curtsy. See on i. 2. 63 above. 

233. Treys. Threes ; as in dice and card playing. 

234. Metheglin. A sweet beverage. Cf. M. W. v. 5. 167 
(Evans's speech) : " Sack and wine and metheglins." Wort is 
unfermented beer. 

236. Cog. Deceive ; specifically used of falsifying dice. 

239. Change. Often = exchange, on which sense Maria plays 
just below. 

248. Veal. Perhaps punning on the foreign pronunciation of 
well (Malone). Boswell quotes The Wisdome of Dr . Dodypoll : — 

"Doctor. Hans, my very speciall friend; fait and trot me be right 
glad for see you veale. 
Hans. What, do you make a calfe of me, M. Doctor? " 



Scene ii] Notes 205 

The Cambridge editors say : " The word alluded to is Vie/, a 
word which would be likely to be known from the frequent use 
which the sailors from Hamburg or Bremen would have cause to 
make of the phrase zu viel [too much] in their bargains with the 
London shopkeepers." 

260. The sense of sense. See on i. 1 . 64 above. 

264. Dry-beaten. Cudgelled, thrashed. Cf. R. and J. iii. I. 82 
and iv. 5. 126. We find " dry basting" in C. of E. ii. 2. 64. 

269. Well-liking. Well-conditioned. Cf. what Falstaff says in 
1 Hen. IV. iii. 3. 6: "I'll repent, while I am in some liking" 
(while I have some flesh). See also M. W. ii. I. 57. Steevens 
quotes Job, xxix. 4. 

270. Kingly-poor. Poor for a king; not hyphened in the early 
eds. and perhaps corrupt. Perhaps Herford's explanation may be 
accepted : " A royal jest ; one that has only its royal origin to 
commend it." 

275. Weeping-ripe. Ripe for weeping, ready to weep ; used 
again in 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 172: "What, weeping-ripe, my lord 
Northumberland ? " Cf. reeling-ripe in Temp. v. I. 279 and sink- 
ing-ripe in C. of E. i. 1. 78. 

278. No point. See on ii. 1. 190 above. 

280. Qualm. Probably a play on calm, which seems to have 
been pronounced like it. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 40 : " sick of a 
calm." 

282. Statute-caps. Woollen caps, which, by act of Parliament 
in 1571, the citizens were required to wear on Sundays and holi- 
days. The nobility were exempt from the requirement, which, as 
Strype informs us, was " in behalf of the trade of cappers " — one 
of sundry such "protection" measures in the time of Elizabeth. 
The meaning evidently is, that " better wits may be found among 
citizens" (Steevens), or common folk. 

284. Quick. Sprightly. See on i. 1. 161 above. 

298. Damask. Cf. the reference to cheeks in A. Y. L. iii. 5. 
123 : " Betwixt the constant red and mingled damask." 



106 Notes [Act v 

299. Angels vailing clouds. That is, letting fall the clouds that 
have masked or hidden them. For vail = lower, let fall, cf. M. of 
V.i. 1. 28, Ham. i. 2. 70, etc. It has been often confounded with 
veil by editors and printers. 

305. Shapeless. Unshapely, ugly; as in R. ofL.gjs and C. of 
E. iv. 2. 20. 

317. As pigeons pease. Steevens quotes from Ray's Proverbs ; — 

" Children pick up words as pigeons peas, 
And utter them again as God shall please." 

318. God. The reading of 1st quarto, changed in the folio to 
" Jove ; " doubtless on account of the statute against the use of the 
name of God on the stage. 

320. Wassails. Drinking-bouts, carousals. Cf. Macb. i. 7. 64: 
" wine and wassail," etc. 

325. Carve. Carving was considered a courtly accomplishment; 
but the word here probably has the same sense as in M. W. i. 3. 
49: "She discourses, she carves, she gives the leer of invitation," 
where it refers to making certain signs with the fingers, or a kind 
of amorous telegraphy. On lisp, cf. M. W. iii. 3. 77 : " these lisp- 
ing hawthorn buds, that come like women in men's apparel," etc. 

328. Tables. The old name for backgammon. 

330. A mean. A tenor. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 95 : " The mean 
is drown'd by your unruly base ; " and W. T. iv. 3. 46 : " means 
and bases." Steevens quotes Bacon : "The treble cutteth the air 
so sharp, as it returneth too swift to make the sound equal; and 
therefore a mean or tenor is the sweetest." 

334. Whale's. A dissyllable. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 15 : "And 
eke, through feare, as white as whales bone." The simile was a 
common one in the old poets, as Steevens shows by many quota- 
tions. The reference is to the tooth of the walrus, or " horse- 
whale," then much used as a substitute for ivory. 

336. Boyet. The rhyme with debt is to be noted. Cf. p. 154 
above. 



Scene ii] Notes 207 

342. In all hail. With a play on hail = hail-stones (Clarke). 
363. Mess. See on iv. 3. 206, and cf. 369 below. 

367. To the manner. According to the manner, or fashion. 

368. Undeserving praise. Undeserved praise, or praise to the 
undeserving. Cf. beholding — beholden (regularly in S.), all-obey- 
ing (= obeyed by all) in A. and C. hi. 13. 77, etc. 

376. When we greet, etc. That is, when we look upon the sun 
it dazzles or blinds our eyes. 

391. We are descried, etc. This speech and the next are spoken 
aside, as is evident from what the princess says immediately after ; 
but no former editor, so far as I am aware, has marked them so. 

394. Swoon! The quartos and 1st folio have "sound," which 
was one of the ways of spelling the word. It is found in the folio 
in M. N. D. ii. 2. 154, A. Y. I. v. 2. 29, Rich. III. iv. 1. 35, R. 
and J. iii. 2. 56, etc. The later folios have "swound," which 
often occurs in the early eds. In R. of I. i486, we find swounds 
rhyming with wounds. Swown and swoond (present) are other old 
forms. 

406. Friend. Sometimes = mistress ; as in M. for M. i. 4. 29 : 
" He hath got his friend with child." For the corresponding mas- 
culine use (= paramour), see Oth. iv. 1. 3 : " naked with her friend 
in bed," etc. 

409. Three piVd. Superfine ; or like three-piled velvet, the 
richest kind. Cf. M. for M. i. 2. ^t> : " tnou art good velvet ; 
thou 'rt a three-piled piece ; " and W. T. iv. 3. 14 : " and in my 
time wore three-pile." 

For affectation (Rowe's reading) the early eds. have " affection." 
See on v. 1. 4 above. White retains "affection," which he would 
make a quadrisyllable, rhyming with ostentati-on. Hyperboles, he 
says, is a trisyllable, hy-per-boles, as in T. and C. i. 3. 161 : " Would 
seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff." But ostentati-on would make 
the line an alexandrine, which (see on i. 1. 108 above) S. rarely 
used in his early plays ; and it does not seem at all necessary to 
make hyperbole a trisyllable in T. and C. Affectation is found in 



208 Notes [Act v 

the folio in M. W. i. I. 152 and IIa?n. ii. 2. 464 ; affection (in the 
same sense) only here and in v. 1.4 above. 

415. Russet. Homespun ; russet being a common colour for 
such fabrics. Kersey was a coarse woollen stuff. 

417. Sans. Without; a French word that had become quite 
Anglicized in the time of S., being used (spelt " sance " or " sanse ") 
in French and Italian dictionaries to define sans and senza. In her 
reply Rosaline bids him speak without sans, that is, without French 
words. 

421. 'Lord have mercy on us.' "The inscription put upon the 
doors of the houses infected with the plague. The tokens of the 
plague are the first spots or discolor at ions by which the infection 
is known to be received" (Johnson). Cf. A. and C. iii. 10. 9: 
" like the token'd pestilence." 

427. States. Estates ; as not unfrequently. 

429. Being those that sue ? A play upon sue = prosecute by law 
(Johnson). 

436. Well advis'd? Probably = in your right mind. Cf. C. of E. 
ii. 2. 215 : "mad or well advis'd?" The ordinary sense of "acting 
with due deliberation," which most editors give here, seems rather 
tame. 

442. Force not. "Make no difficulty" (Johnson), or "care not 
for" (Schmidt). Cf. R. of L. 1021 : "I force not argument a 
straw." Collier quotes the interlude of Jacob and Esau, 1568 : — 

" O Lorde ! some good body, for Gods sake, gyve me meate, 
I force not what it were, so that I had to eate." 

461. Neither of either. A common expression of the time, found 
in The London Prodigal and other comedies (Malone). 

462. Consent. Compact, conspiracy. 

465. Please-man. Pickthank, parasite ; used by S. only here. 
A zany was a subordinate buffoon. Cf. T. N. i. 5. 96 : " the fools' 
zanies." 

466. Trencher- knight. Servingman. Cf. 479 below. 



Scene ii] Notes 209 

467. In years. Probably = into wrinkles, like those of age. Cf. 
M. of V. i. 1. 80: "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles 
come." 

473. In will, and error. " First wilfully, afterwards by mis- 
take" (Clarke). 

476. Squire. Square, or foot-rule. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 348 or 
1 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 13. There is a vulgar proverb, "He has the 
length of her foot" — he knows her humour exactly (Heath). 

477. Upon the apple of her eye ? In obedience to her glance. 
480. You are allowed. "An allowed fool" (T. N. i. 5. roi), a 

privileged jester. 

483. Wounds like a leaden sword. Cf. J. C. iii. I. 173: "To 
you our swords have leaden points." 

484. Manage . . . career. Terms of the stable and the tilt- 
yard. On manage, cf. A. Y. I. i. 1. 13, Hen. VIII. v. 3. 24, etc. A 
career was an encounter of knights at full gallop. Cf. Rich. II. 
i. 2. 49, etc. 

492. You cannot beg us. " That is, we are not fools ; our next 
relations cannot beg the wardship of our persons and fortunes. One 
of the legal tests of a natural is to try whether he can number " 
(Johnson). Knight remarks : "One of the most abominable cor- 
ruptions of the feudal system of government was for the sovereign, 
who was the legal guardian of idiots, to grant the wardship of such 
an unhappy person to some favourite, granting with the idiot the 
right of using his property. Ritson, and Douce more correctly, 
give a curious anecdote illustrative of this custom, and of its abuse : 
' The Lord North begg'd old Bladwell for a foole (though he could 
never prove him so), and having him in his custodie as a lunaticke, 
he carried him to a gentleman's house, one day, that was his neigh- 
bour. The L. North and the gentleman retir'd awhile to private 
discourse, and left Bladwell in the dining-roome, which was hung 
with a faire hanging ; Bladwell walking up and downe, and view- 
ing the imagerie, spyed a foole at last in the hanging, and without 
delay drawes his knife, flyes at the foole, cutts him cleane out, and 

love's labour — 14 



210 Notes [Act v 

layes him on the floore ; my Lord and the gentleman coming in 
againe, and finding the tapestrie thus defac'd, he ask'd Bladwell 
what he meant by such a rude uncivill act ; he answered, Sir, be 
content, I have rather done you a courtesie than a wrong, for, if 
ever my L. N. had seene the foole there he would have begg'd him, 
and so you might have lost your whole suite ' (Harl. MS. 6395)." 

502. Whereuntil. Whereunto, to what. 

503. Pur sent. For present. See on v. I. 122 above. 

518, 519. Where zeal, etc. I leave this passage as in the folio 
(with the Cambridge editors), in preference to adopting anyone 
of the many emendations that have been proposed. The plural 
contents is used for the sake of the rhyme ; and the meaning seems 
to be : where zeal strives to please, but the very effort is fatal to the 
pleasure. The context is the best commentary upon it. 

529. Honey. For the personal use, cf. I Hen. IV. i. 2. 179, 
T. and C. v. 2. 18, R. and J. ii. 5. 18, etc. 

532. Fortuna de la guerra. Fortune of war (Spanish). Han- 
mer has " della guerra," forgetting that Armado is a Spaniard and 
not an Italian. The early eds. have "delaguar;" and Schmidt 
conjectures " del agua " (of the water, alluding to the old saying 
that swimming must be tried in the water) or " de la guarda " (of 
guard, " that is, guarding Fortune "). 

533. Couplement. Used here for couple. In Sonn. 21. 5 it is = 
combination. 

543. Hedge-priest. A term of contempt for priests of the lowest 
type ; like Sir Oliver Martext in A. Y. L. S. uses the word only 
here. 

545. Novum. Hanmer reads " novem." Novum (or novem) 
was a game at dice. Steevens quotes Greene, Art of Legerde- 
main, 1612: "The principal use of them [dice] is at novum," 
etc. Abate — leave out, except ; and the meaning is : " except in 
a throw at novum, the whole world could not furnish five such." 

546. Prick out. Mark out. Cf. Sonn. 20. 13: "prick'd thee 
out for women's pleasure." See also 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 121 fol. 



Scene II] Notes 211 

and J. C. iii. I. 216, iv. 1. 1, 16. Some eds. adopt the quarto 
" pick." 

549. Libbard's. Leopard's; the knee-caps in old dresses and 
plate-armour often being in the form of a leopard's head (Dyce). 

566. Stands too right. According to Plutarch, Alexander's head 
had a twist towards the left. The next line alludes to the state- 
ment of the same author that Alexander's skin had "a marvel- 
lous good savour." 

577. The painted cloth. For the historical and other paintings 
on the cloth hangings of rooms, cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 291, 1 Hen. IV. 
iv. 2. 28, R. of L. 245, etc. 

578. That holds his poll-axe, etc. The arms of Alexander, as 
given in the old history of the Nine Worthies, were a lion sitting 
in a chair holding a battle-axe (Toilet). 

579. Ajax. There is a play on a jakes (privy) ; a coarse joke 
that occurs in Jonson, Camden, Sir John Harington, and other 
writers of the time. 

580. Afeard. The quarto has afeard, and the folios afraid. The 
forms are used interchangeably in the early eds. 

585. A little derparted. With a part, or rdle, a little too much 
for him. 

589. Imp. Youngster. See on i. 2. 5 above. 

590. Canus. Dog (Latin canis); the reading in the early eds., 
which may be retained for the sake of the rhyme. 

599. Ycliped. Yclept; mispronounced for the sake of the joke 
that follows. 

611. A cittern-head. A cittern (cithern, gittern, or guitar) often 
had a grotesque face carved upon its head. 

616. Flask. That is, a powder-flask; as in R. and J. iii. 3. 
132. 

617. Half-cheek in a brooch. Profile on a clasp, or buckle. Cf. 
half- face in K. John, i. I. 92. 

631. Baited! Worried; like a baited bear or bull. 
634. Comeho?ne by me. That is, come home to me. 



2i2 Notes [Act V 

636. Trojan. The early eds. have "Troyan," as often else- 
where. The word was much used as a term of contempt. See 
1 Hen. IV. ii. 1. 77, Hen. V. v. I. 20, 23, etc. 

638. Clean-timbered. Well-built; used by S. nowhere else. 

641. The small. That is, of the leg. 

645. Lances. Lancers; as in Lear, v. 3. 50: "our impress'd 
lances," etc. 

647. A gilt mitmeg. Mentioned by Jonson in his Christmas 
Masque as a present (Steevens). An orange or lemon, stuck with 
cloves, was a common new-year's gift. 

654. Breathed. Endowed with breath, or " wind ; " in full 
vigour. Cf. A. and C. iii. 13. 178: " treble-sinew'd, hearted, 
breath'd." 

665. After this line Capell gives the stage-direction, " Biron 
steps to Costard and whispers him ; " that is, putting him up to the 
trick on Armado. 

671. This Hector, etc. Dyce, who adopts Capell's stage-direction 
at 665 just above, has here "Costard \suddenly coming from behind~\. 
The party is gone," etc. White, who makes Costard leave at 589 
above, has at 665 "Birone goes out," and here " Enter Costard 
hastily and unarmed, and Birone after him" It is doubtful just 
how the trick was meant to be managed, and any one of the ways 
suggested by the editors would do well enough on the stage. It 
could safely be left to the actors without any stage-direction, as 
in the Cambridge ed. 

680. Quick by him. There is a play on quick = alive. Cf. Ham. 
v. 1. 137: "'T is for the dead, not for the quick," etc. See also 
Acts, x. 42, etc. 

687. More Ates ! " That is, more instigation. Ate was the mis- 
chievous goddess that incited bloodshed" (Johnson). Cf. Much 
Ado, ii. 1. 263, K. John, ii. 1. 63, and./. C. iii. 1. 271. 

693. Fight with a pole, etc. That is, with the quarter-staff, a 
long pole in the use of which the men of the North of England 
were skilful. 



Scene ii] Notes 213 

695. My arms. "The weapons and armour which he wore in 
his character of Pompey" (Johnson). 

699. Let me take you, etc. " Perhaps = let me speak without 
ceremony" (Schmidt). 

709. Woolward. That is, with woollen next to the skin, or with- 
out linen. Grey quotes Stowe's Annals : " he went woolward and 
barefooted to many churches, in every of them to pray to God for 
help in his blindness." Farmer adds from Lodge's Incarnate 
Devils, 1596: "His common course is to go always untrust 
[untrussed]; except when his shirt is a washing, and then he 
goes woolward." 

721. / have seen, etc. "Armado means to say in his affected 
style, that he had discovered that he was wronged, and was deter- 
mined to right himself as a soldier " (Mason). " One may see day 
at a little hole " is found in Ray's Proverbs. Through the little hole 
of discretion may be = " though discreetly forbearing from righting 
myself until I can do it with dignity," as Steevens and Clarke 
explain it. 

731. Liberal. Too free, over-bold. It is used in a yet stronger 
sense in Much Ado, iv. 1. 93 : "a liberal villain," etc. 

733. Converse of breath. That is, in conversation. For the 
accent of converse, cf. Oth. iii. 1. 40. Steevens compares M. of V. 
v. 1. 141 : "this breathing courtesy" (these courteous words). 

735. Humble. Apparently = obsequious, formal, polite. Many 
eds. follow Theobald in reading " nimble." Cf. humble in 629 
above. "The princess means to say that when the heart is heavy 
the tongue is not apt to find polite words in which to acknowl- 
edge a great benefit " — referring to the granting of her suit about 
Aquitaine and the ransom. 

738. The extreme parts of time, etc. I retain the folio reading, 
which Dr. B. Nicholson (Trans, of New. Shahs. Soc. for 1874, 
p. 5 13) explains thus : " The extreme parts are the end parts, extrem- 
ities — as, of our body, the fingers; of chains, the final links; of 
given portions of time, the last of those units into which we choose 



214 Notes [Act v 

to divide them. Afterwards (in 85) the King, representing the 
stay of the Princess as for an hour, calls the extreme part ' the latest 
minute,' and the thought in both passages is so far the same. It is 
not however said that our decision is necessitated by the extremity 
of the moment, though this is perhaps suggested to us by the sound 
of the words used ; but that concurring circumstances, and there- 
fore Time, as the producer of those circumstances, so influence our 
decision that he, and not we, may be called the decider. Hence 
Time, as personified, and as the intelligential agent of whom the 
extreme parts are but the instrumental members, is considered as 
the true nominative to the verb forms, and is represented as fash- 
ioning or moulding all causes or questions to the purposes of his 
speed, that is, to his own intents, or to those of the fate or Provi- 
dence of which he is the sub-agent. This thought has been forced 
upon the King by finding that his high resolves of study were at 
once broken by the coming of the Princess, while her sudden 
departure shows him that he cannot do without her love ; and he 
urges it as an excuse for the intrusion of his love on her time of 
grief, and as an excuse for her favourable reply. 

"In the next lines, though still personifying Time, the King 
changes his illustration. Often the archer may weigh variously all 
the circumstances — the bow, the arrow, the intended strength of 
shot and elevation, the wind and the like — and so vary from mo- 
ment to moment ; but at the very loose, or loosing of the shaft (an 
act the proper doing of which was much dwelt on by archers) he 
comes to a quick and determined decision. ' So during your stay, 
princess,' says the King, ' I and my lords acted doubtfully between 
Dur former resolves and our new loves, and you have dallied with 
us : now at your departure, at the last moment, I decide and ask 
your love ; do you answer with the same determinateness.' In 
retort, the Princess most consistently decides in accord with the 
events which Time has purposed in her regard, for the declaration 
of the King is only one of these, another and the first being the 
news of her father's death. 



Scene II] Notes 215 

"The thought of the first two lines is allied and similar to 
Hamlet's 

' There 's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them as we will; ' 

just as the rest expresses the similar idea specially illustrated in the 
catastrophe of that play. But here the subject being of a gentler 
nature, the King speaks more conversationally and less reflectively 
than Hamlet does, and of Time and not of a Providence or divinity" 

Forms has been changed to " form," but quite unnecessarily. 
Cf. iv. 3. 342 above. 

Extreme is accented on the first syllable because preceding the 
noun. See on profound, in iv. 3. 166 above. 

744. Convince. Overcome, conquer. Cf. Macb. i. 7. 64, iv. 3. 
142, Oth. iv. 1. 28, etc. 

750. Dull. The early eds. have "double," which is clearly cor- 
rupt. Some read " hear dully." 

758. Strains. Impulses, vagaries. Cf. M. W. \\. 1. gi, T. of A. 
iv. 3. 213, etc. 

759. Skipping. Flighty, frivolous. Cf. M. of V. ii. 2. 196: — 

" Pray thee, take pain 
To allay with some cold drops of modesty 
Thy skipping spirit, lest through thy wild behaviour 
I be misconstrued," etc. 

766. Have misbecom 'd. The " confusion of construction" is like 
many other instances in S. For the form misbecom 'd, cf. becomed 
in R. and J. iv. 2. 26, A. and C. iii. 7. 26, and Cymb. v. 5. 406. 

768. Suggested. Tempted ; as in Oth. ii. 3. 358 : — 

" When devils will the blackest sins put on, 
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows." 

Cf. suggestions in i. 1. 158 above. 

779. Bombast. Originally, cotton used to stuff out garments. 
Cf. the quotation from Stubbes in note on iii. 1. 17 above. Ger- 
arde, in his Herbal, calls the cotton plant " the bombast tree ; " 



2i6 Notes [Act v 

and Lupton, in A Thousand Notable Things, speaks of a candle 
" with a wick of bumbast." 

780. Respects = considerations, thoughts. 

784. Quote. Construe, interpret. Cf. misquote = misconstrue, 
in 1 Hen. IV. v. 2. 13, the only instance of the word in S. See 
also ii. 1. 245 above. 

787. World-without-end. Cf. Sonn. 57. 5: — 

" Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour 
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you." 

789. Dear. Used in an intensive sense ; as in 862 below. See 
also on ii. 1. 1 above. 

799. Weeds. Garments ; as often. 

801. Last love. " Continue to be love " (Steevens). 

812. Flatter up. For the up, see on iv. 3. 303 above. The 
meaning is : " in order that I might soothe or pamper these facul- 
ties of mine by leading a life of repose " (Clarke). 

815-820. And what . . . sick. Evidently a part of the first 
sketch which was rewritten in revising the play. See on iv. 3. 
297 above. 

816. Rank. Cf. Ham. iii. 3. 36: "O, my offence is rank," etc. 

817. Attaint. Attainted. Such contractions of participles end- 
ing in t {acquit, addict, quit, etc.) are common. We find taint in 
1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183 : "heart never yet taint with love." 

822. A wife ? The early eds. give this to Katherine, reading : 
"A wife? a beard, faire health," etc. Dyce was the first to trans- 
fer A wife ? to Dumain, in whose mouth it seems more natural. 

843. All estates. All kinds or conditions of people ; as in 
Rich. III. iii. 7. 213: "And equally, indeed, to all estates." Lati- 
mer, in his Sermons, says it is the duty of a king " to see to all 
estates, to provide for the poor," etc. 

851. Fierce. Ardent, strenuous ; as in Lear, ii. 1. 36, etc. 

855. Agony. " Used specifically ; the death-throes " (Herford). 

862. Dear. See on 789 above. 



Scene II] Notes 217 

867. Reformation. Metrically five syllables. 

871. Bring you. Accompany you. Cf. W. T. iv. 3. 122: 
"Shall I bring thee on the way?" See also Genesis, xviii. 16, 
Acts, xxi. 5, 2 Corinthians, i. 16, etc. 

873- Jack hath not JUL Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 461 : "Jack shall 
have Jill," etc. 

892. Pied. Variegated. Cf. M. of V. i. 3. 80: "streak'd and 
pied," etc. 

893. Lady-smocks. Ellacombe {Plant-Lore of S.) says: "Lady- 
smocks are the flowers of Cardamine pratensis, the pretty early 
meadow flower of which children are so fond, and of which the 
popularity is shown by its many names, Lady-smocks, Cuckoo- 
flower, Meadow Cress, Pinks, Spinks, Bog-spinks, and May-flower, 
and ' in Northfolke, Canterbury Bells." The origin of the name 
is not very clear. It is generally explained from the resemblance 
of the flowers to smocks hung out to dry, but the resemblance 
seems to me rather far-fetched. According to another explana- 
tion, 'the Lady-smock, a corruption of Our Lady's-smock, is so 
called from its first flowering about Lady-tide. It is a pretty 
purplish-white, tetradynamous plant, which blows from Lady-tide 
till the end of May, and which during the latter end of April 
covers the moist meadows with its silvery-white, which looks at 
a distance like a white sheet spread over the fields' {Circle of the 
Seasons) . Those who adopt this view called the plant Our Lady's- 
smock, but I cannot find that name in any old writers. Drayton, 
coeval with Shakespeare, says : — 

' Some to grace the show, 
Of Lady-smocks most white do rob each neighbouring meed, 
Wherewith their loose locks most curiously they braid.' 

And Isaac Walton, in the next century, drew that pleasant picture 
of himself sitting quietly by the waterside — 'looking down the 
meadows I could see here a boy gathering Lilies and Lady-smocks, 
and there a girl cropping Culverkeys and Cowslips.' " 



2i 8 Notes [Actv 

894. Cuckoo-buds. "There is a difficulty in deciding what 
flower Shakespeare meant by Cuckoo-buds. We now always give 
the name to the Meadow Cress (Cardamine pratensis), but it can- 
not be that in either of these passages, because that flower is men- 
tioned under its other name of Lady-smocks in the previous line, 
nor is it ' of yellow hue ; ' nor does it grow among Corn, as de- 
scribed in Lear, iv. 4. 4. Many plants have been suggested, but 
I think the Buttercup, as suggested by Dr. Prior, will best meet 
the requirements " (Ellacombe). 

897. Mocks married men. The note of the cuckoo was thought 
to prognosticate cuckoldom. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 1. 134 and A. W. 
i. 3. 67. 

903. Turtles. Turtle-doves. See on iv. 3. 210 above. 

910. Hang by the wall. That is, from the eaves. Malone com- 
pares Hen. V. iii. 5. 23 and Temp. v. 1. 17. 

911. Blozvs his nail. To warm his fingers. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. ii. 
5. 3: "the shepherd, blowing of his nails." See also T. of S. i. I. 
109. 

918. Keel. Cool ; that is, by stirring it. Clarke says the word 
came also to mean skimming off the scum that rose to the top, 
which may be the sense here. Collier quotes Piers Plowman : — 

" And lerede men a ladel bygge, with a long stele 
That caste for to kele a crockke, and save the fatte above ; " 

that is, they skimmed the crock, or pot, with a ladle, in order to 
save the fat. Schmidt also defines keel as "to scum (German 
kielen)." 

920. Saw. Moral saying, maxim. Cf. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 156: 
" Full of wise saws ; " 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 61 : " holy saws of sacred 
writ," etc. 

923. Crabs. Crab-apples ; often roasted and put into the 
wassail-bowl. Cf. M. N. D. ii. 1. 48 (Puck's speech) : — 

" And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl, 
In very likeness of a roasted crab." 



APPENDIX 

Shakespeare and Florio 

John Florio was born in London about 1553, and died full of 
years and honours in 1625, having survived Shakespeare nine years. 
He had married the sister of Daniel the poet, and Ben Jonson pre- 
sented a copy of The Fox to him, with the inscription, "To his 
loving father and worthy friend Master John Florio, Ben Jonson 
seals this testimony of his friendship and love." Daniel writes a 
poem of some length in praise of Florio's translation of Montaigne, 
while other contemporary poets contribute commendatory verses 
which are prefixed to his other publications. A sonnet prefixed to 
his Second Frutes (a book of Italian-English dialogues for students) 
has been ascribed by Professor Minto and others to Shakespeare. 
In a subsequent work Florio refers to this sonnet as the production 
of a friend " who loved better to be a poet than to be called one," 
and vindicates it from the indirect attack of a hostile critic, H. S., 
who had also disparaged the work in which it appeared ; but I am 
inclined to agree with H. S. rather than with Florio or Minto, and 
cannot believe that Shakespeare wrote it. 

In the British Museum there is a copy of Florio's Montaigne 
(1603) with Shakespeare's name on the fly-leaf, but experts are not 
agreed that it is his autograph. We know, however, that the drama- 
tist had read Florio's book, for Gonzalo's description of his ideal 
republic in The Tempest (ii. 1. 144 fol.) is little else than a para- 
phrase of this passage in it : " It is a nation, would I answere Plato, 
that hath no kindle of traffike, no knowledge of Letters, no intelli- 
gence of numbers, no name of magistrate, nor of politike superi- 
oritie ; no use of service, of riches, or of povertie ; no contracts, no 

219 



220 Appendix 

successions, no partitions, no occupation, but idle ; no respect of 
kindred but common ; no apparell but naturall ; no manuring of 
lands ; no use of wine, corn, or mettle. The very words that im- 
port lying, falsehood, treason, dissimulation, covetousness, envie, 
detraction, and pardon were never heard of amongst them." 

Shakespeare's rendering of it may be added, to save the reader 
the trouble of referring to the play : — 

" Gonzalo. V the commonwealth I would by contraries 
Execute all things ; for no kind of traffic 
Would I admit; no name of magistrate ; 
Letters should not be known ; riches, poverty, 
And use of service, none ; contract, succession, 
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none; 
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil ; 
No occupation ; all men idle, all ; 
And women too, but innocent and pure ; 
No sovereignty ; — 

Sebastian. Yet he would be king on 't. 

Antonio. The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the 
beginning. 

Gonzalo. All things in common nature should produce 
Without sweat or endeavour; treason, felony, 
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine, 
Would I not have ; but nature should bring forth, 
Of it own kind, all foison, all abundance, 
To feed my innocent people." 

Baynes remarks: "The First Fruits was published in 1578, and 
was for some years the most popular manual for the study of Ital- 
ian. It is the book that Shakespeare would naturally have used 
in attempting to acquire a knowledge of the language after his 
arrival in London ; and on finding that the author was the friend 
of some of his literary associates he would probably have sought 
his acquaintance and secured his personal help. As Florio was 
also a French scholar and habitually taught both languages, Shake- 
speare probably owed to him his knowledge of French as well as 



Appendix 221 

of Italian. ... In any case Shakespeare would almost certainly 
have met Florio a few years later at the house of Lord Southamp- 
ton, with whom the Italian scholar seems to have occasionally 
resided. It also appears that he was in the habit of visiting at 
several titled houses, among others those of the Earl of Bedford 
and Sir John Harrington. It seems also probable that he may 
have assisted Harrington in his translation of Ariosto. Another 
and perhaps even more direct link connecting Shakespeare with 
Florio during his early years in London is found in their common 
relation to the family of Lord Derby. In the year 1585 Florio 
translated a letter of news from Rome, giving an account of the 
sudden death of Pope Gregory XIII. and the election of his suc- 
cessor. This translation, published in July, 1585, was dedicated 
'To the Right Excellent and Honourable Lord, Henry, Earl of 
Derby,' in terms expressive of Florio's strong personal obligations 
to the earl and devotion to his service. Three years later, on the 
death of Leicester in 1588, Lord Derby's eldest son, Ferdinando, 
Lord Strange, became the patron of Leicester's company of players, 
which Shakespeare had recently joined. The new patron must 
have taken special interest in the company, as they soon became 
(chiefly through his influence) great favourites at Court, supersed- 
ing the Queen's players, and enjoying something like a practical 
monopoly of royal representations. Shakespeare would thus have 
the opportunity of making Florio's acquaintance at the outset of 
his London career, and everything tends to show that he did not 
miss the chance of numbering amongst his personal friends so 
accomplished a scholar, so alert, energetic, and original a man of 
letters, as the 'resolute John Florio.' Warburton, it is well known, 
suggested, or rather asserted, that Florio was the original of Holo- 
fernes in Love's Labour J s Lost. Of all Warburton's arbitrary 
conjectures and dogmatic assumptions this is perhaps the most 
infelicitous. That a scholar and man of the world like Florio, 
with marked literary powers of his own, the intimate friend and 
associate of some of the most eminent poets of the day, living in 



ill Appendix 

princely and noble circles, honoured by royal personages and wel- 
comed at noble houses, — that such a man should be selected as 
the original of a rustic pedant and dominie like Holofernes is surely 
the climax of reckless guesswork and absurd suggestion." 

As I have said elsewhere, there is no good reason to suppose 
that Shakespeare ever caricatured any particular person anywhere 
in his works. Allibone, following Drake and certain other com- 
mentators, says that Florio offended the dramatists of his day by 
declaring that " the plaies that they do plaie in England are 
neither right comedies nor right tragedies, but representations of 
histories without any decorum," and that Shakespeare " retaliated 
this assault by ridiculing Florio in the character of Holofernes." 
Brewer, in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, says, in addition to 
this, that the name Holofernes is an imperfect anagram for " Joh'nes 
Floreo ; " and Wheeler, in his Dictionary of Noted Names of Fic- 
tion, echoes this absurd statement. It is proved to be absurd by 
the fact, also given by Wheeler, that Holofernes is the name of 
the pedant who is the teacher of Gargantua in the well-known 
romance by Rabelais, who died before Shakespeare was born. 
That Shakespeare had read Rabelais is evident from the allusion 
in As You Like It (iii. 2. 238) , where Celia, in reply to the " An- 
swer me in one word," with which Rosalind winds up her string of 
questions about Orlando, says, " You must borrow me Gargantua's 
mouth first ; 't is a word too great for any mouth of this age's size." 



"Love's Labour's Lost" and Tennyson's "Princess" 

Not a few critics have suggested that Tennyson got the hint of 
the plot of The Princess from Love's Labour's Lost; and this is 
certainly possible, though, as Mr. Boas remarks {Shakspere and his 
Predecessors, 1896), the theme, "in one form or other, is as old 
as life itself." He adds : " In our own day it is generally women 
rather than men whom the poet or the satirist depicts as rebellious 



Appendix 223 

against nature's decrees, and intent upon the reversal of the pri- 
mary social conditions. Foremost among such pictures is Tennyson's 
Princess, which seems to owe some of its machinery to Shakspere's 
play. The Princess herself, with her two chief ladies, set over 
against the Prince and his companions, reminds us of the grouping 
of characters in Love's Labour ' s Lost, the ' College ' corresponds 
to the 'Academe,' and the oath of renunciation is in either case 
taken for three years. Of course, Tennyson, with ' sweet girl-gradu- 
ates ' as his theme, has opportunities for dainty vignettes, for piquant 
contrasts between the flush and glow of budding womanhood and 
the grey tones of academic life, which are denied to Shakspere, but 
the underlying ideas of both poets that love is greater than learning, 
and that the one sex cannot do without the other, are absolutely 
the same." 



The Time-Analysis of the Play 

This is given by Mr. P. A. Daniel, in his paper " On the Times or 
Durations of the Action of Shakspere's Plays " ( Trans, of New 
Shaks. Sac. 1877-79, p. 145) as follows : — 

"Day 1. — The first day of the action includes Acts I. and II. 
In it the Princess of France has her first interview with the King of 
Navarre. Toward the end of Act II. certain documents required 
for the establishment of the French claims are stated to have not 
yet come ; but, says Boyet, ' to-morrow you shall have a sight of 
them,' and the King tells the Princess — ' To-morrow shall we visit 
you again.' 

"Day 2. — Act III. Armado intrusts Costard with a letter to 
Jaquenetta ; immediately afterwards Biron also intrusts him with a 
letter for Rosaline, which he is to deliver this afternoon. 

" Act IV. sc. i. The Princess remarks that ' to-day we shall have 
our dispatch.' This fixes the scene as the morrozu referred to in 
the first day. Costard now enters to deliver, as he supposes, the 



224 Appendix 

letter intrusted to him by Biron. He mistakes, however, and gives 
up Armado's letter to Jaquenetta. 

"Act IV. sc. ii. Costard and Jaquenetta come to Holofernes 
and Nathaniel to get them to read the letter, as they suppose, of 
Armado to Jaquenetta. It turns out to be the letter of Biron to 
Rosaline, and Costard and Jaquenetta are sent oft to give it up at 
once to the King. It is clear that these scenes from the beginning 
of Act III. are all on one day ; but at the end of this scene Holo- 
fernes invites Nathaniel and Dull to dine with him ' to-day at the 
father's of a pupil of mine.' This does not agree very well with 
' this afternoon' mentioned in Act III., and one or the other — the 
afternoon, I think — must be set down as an oversight. 

" Act IV. sc. iii. Still the same day. The King, Longaville, and 
Dumain mutually detect each other of love, and Biron triumphs 
over all three till his own backslidings are exposed by the entry 
of Costard and Jaquenetta with his letter to Rosaline. Finally, all 
four resolve to woo their mistresses openly, and determine that — 

' in the afternoon 

[They] will with some strange pastime solace them.' 

" In pursuance of this idea in the next scene, Act V. sc. i., we 
find Armado consulting Holofernes and Nathaniel — who have now 
returned from their dinner — as to some masque with which ' it is 
the King's most sweet pleasure and affection to congratulate the 
Princess at her pavilion in the posteriors of this day, which the rude 
multitude call the afternoon.' A masque of the Nine Worthies is 
determined on. 

" In the next scene the masque is presented accordingly, and 
with this scene the Play ends. 

" The time of the action, then, is two days : 

" I. Acts I. and II. 

"2. Acts III. to V." 



Appendix 225 



List of Characters in the Play 

The numbers in parenthesis indicate the lines the characters have 
in each scene. 

King: i. 1(117); "• x (47)j iv - 3(7 6 ); v. 2(82). Whole no. 
322. 

Biron: i. 1(128); ii. 1(18); iii. 1(51); iv. 3(237); v. 2(193). 
Whole no. 627. 

Longaville: i. 1(14); ii. I (6); iv. 3(33); v. 2(17). Whole 
no. 70. 

Dumain: i. 1(8); ii. 1(2); ^.3(44); v. 2(37). Whole no. 91. 

Boyet: ii. 1(67); iv. 1(64); v. 2(103). Whole no. 234. 

Mercade : v. 2(4). Whole no. 4. 

Armado: i. 2(96); iii. 1(58); v. 1(48), 2(53). Whole no. 255. 

Nathaniel: iv. 2(45); v. 1(13), 2(22). Whole no. 80. 

Holofernes: iv. 2(104); v « !(6o), 2(36). Whole no. 200. 

Dull: i. 1(9), 2(7); iv. 2(13); v. 1(3). Whole no. 32. 

Costard: i. 1(44), 2(13); iii. 1(40) ; iv. 1(26), 2(3), 3(4); v. 
1(14), 2(58). Whole no. 202. 

Moth: i. 2(70); iii. 1(60); v. 1(24), 2(14). Whole no. 168. 

Forester: iv. 1(5). Whole no. 5. 

1st Lord: ii. 1(2). Whole no. 2. 

Princess: ii. 1(67); iv. 1(50); v. 2(172). Whole no. 289. 

Bosaline: ii. 1(30); iv. 1(11); v. 2(137). Whole no. 178. 

Maria: ii. 1(22); iv. 1(4); v. 2(16). Whole no. 42. 

Katherine: ii. 1(8); v. 2(38). Whole no. 46. 

Jaquenetta: i. 2(6); iv. 2(8), 3(4). Whole no. 18. 

In the above enumeration parts of lines are counted as whole 
lines, making the total of the play greater than it is. The actual 
number of lines in each scene (Globe edition numbering) is as 
follows: i. 1(318), 2(192); ii. 1(258); iii. 1(207); * v - I ( I 5 I )» 
2 ( : 73)> 3(386); v. 1(162), 2(942). Whole number in the play, 
2789. 

love's labour — 15 



INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 



a (transposed), 156 
abate (= except) , 210 
abhominable, 196 
Academe, 155 
accompt, 204 
addressed (= directed), 

202 
addressed (= ready), 168 
afeard, 211 
affect (= love) , 166 
affect the letter, 183 
affection (= affectation) , 

195, 207 
affectioned, 195 
affections (metre), 155 
affects (noun), 159 
agate, 170 
agony, 216 

Ajax (play upon), 211 
all hid, all hid, 188 
allowed (= fool) , 209 
allusion, 183 
alms-basket, 197 
an if, 156 

angels vailing clouds, 206 
annothanize, 180 
antique (accent), 199 
apostrophas, 185 
argument (= proof), 166 
Argus, 177 

Armado (spelling), 154 
art (= letters), 155 
as (= that) , 169 
Ates, 212 

attaint (= attainted), 216 
audaciously, 202 
ay (verb ?), 187 

baited, 211 
bandied, 201 
Bankes' horse, 163 
bankrupt (spelling), 156 
barbarism, 159 
bate (= blunt), 155 
be time, 194 



beg us, 209 

ben venuto, 186 

beshrew, 201 

best-moving, 167 

bias, 185 

bird-bolt, 187 

Biron (spelling), 154 

blows his nail, 218 

blunt (=dull), 167 

board (figure), 169 

bold of, 167 

bombast (= cotton), 172, 

215 
bow-hand, 181 
Boyet (pronunciation), 

154, 206 
brawl (a dance), 171 
break up this capon, 179 
breathed, 212 
bring (= accompany), 217 
bring me out, 204 
broken (head), 174 
buck of the first head, 182 
butt-shaft, 166 
by (=o0,i8 9 
by yea and nay, 156 

can (= gan), 189 

canary (verb), 171 

canus, 211 

capon (= love-letter), 179 

career, 209 

carve, 206 

catched, 202 

caudle, 190 

causes (in duelling), 166 

certes, 186 

change (=exchange) , 204 

chapman, 167 

charge their breath 

against, 202 
charge-house, 198 
chuck, 199 
circum circa, 198 
cittern-head, 211 

227 



claw (= flatter), 184 
clean-timbered, 212 
clout (= target) , 181 
codpiece, 176 
cog (= deceive) , 204 
colourable colours, 186 
come home by me, 211 
common (play upon), 169 
common sense, 156 
commonwealth, 179 
companions (= fellows) , 

i95 . 
competitors (= partners), 

168 
complements, 160, 172 
complete (accent), 159 
complete (= accom- 
plished), 163 
complexions, four, 164 
conceit's expositor, 168 
Concolinel, 171 
consent (= compact) , 208 
contempts (= contents), 

160 
continent canon, 161 
continent of beauty, 180 
converse of breath, 212 
convince (=conquer), 215 
Cophetua, 180 
corner-cap, 188 
corporal of the field, 176, 

188 
costard, 173 
couplement, 210 
courtesy (= curtsy), 163 
crabs (= apples), 218 
crack (= boast), 192 
crest (beauty's), 192 
critic (= carper) , 175 
critic Timon, 190 
crosses (play upon) , 162 
cuckoo mocks married 

men, 218 
cuckoo-buds, 218 
curious-knotted, 161 



228 Index of Words and Phrases 



curst, 179 
curtsy, 204 

damask, 205 
damosel, 162 
Dan, 176 

dance the hay, 200 
dancing horse, the, 163 
day-woman, 165 
dear (intensive), 216 
dearest (= best) , 166 
debate (= contest), 160 
deep oaths, 155 
deer (play upon) , 180 
depart (=part), 169 
Dictynna, 183 
digression, 164 
disgrace (= disfigure- 
ment), 155 
disposed, 170 
do the deed, 177 
dry -beaten, 205 
duke (= king) , 160 

edict (accent), 155 
encounters, 202 
epitheton, 162 
erewhile, 180 
estates, 216 

excrement (= hair) , 199 
extreme (accent), 215 
extreme parts of time, 213 
eyne, 204 

fadge, 200 

fair (noun), 178 

fair befall, 168 

fair fall, 168 

fairings, 200 

familiar (= spirit), 166 

fangled, 158 

fast and loose, 165, 174 

favour (play upon) , 201 

feel only looking, 170 

festinately, 171 

fierce (= ardent), 216 

fight with a pole, 212 

filed (tongue), 195 

fire-new, 160 

first and second cause, 

166 
flap-dragon, 198 
flask, 211 
flatter up, 216 
flattery, 193 
fleer, 202 



force not, 208 
form (= bench) , 161 * 
fortuna de la guerra, 210 
foul (= plain), 179 
friend (= mistress), 207 

gallows (personal), 200 

gelded, 169 

gentility, 159 

German clock, 176 

get the sun of them, 194 

gig (=top), 190 

gilt nutmeg, 212 

glozes, 194 

gnat, 190 

God dig-you-den, 179 

God's blessing on your 

beard ! 169 
good my glass, 178 
good my knave, 175 
gorgeous east, 192 
grapple (figure), 169 
greasily, 181 
green (colour of lovers), 

164 
green wit, 164 
guards (= facings), 188 
Guinever, 181 

ha ! ha ! 173 

hail (play upon), 207 

half-cheek in a brooch, 
211 

hang by the wall, 218 

having (noun), 160 

hay (dance), 200 

hedge-priest, 210 

hereby, 165 

Hesperides, 194 

hests, 202 

hight, 161 

hind (rational), 164 

hobby-horse is forgot, the, 
172 

home, 198 

honey (personal), 210 

honorificabilitudinitati- 
bus, 198 

horn-book, 198 

horns (of cuckold), 181 

hose (= breeches), 188 

hour (dissyllable), 168 

humble, 213 

humorous, 175 

hyperbole (pronuncia- 
tion), 207 



illustrate (adjective), 180 

imitari, 185 

imp (= youngling), 162, 

211 
importeth, 180 
importunes (accent), 167 
in blood, 182 
in by the week, 202 
in lieu of, 175 
in print, 175 
in will and error, 209 
in years, 209 
incision, 189 
incony, 175 
inheritor (= possessor) , 

167 
inkle, 175 

insinuateth me, 196 
intellect (of letter), 186 
inward (= private), 198 

Jack hath not Jill, 217 
Jaques (dissyllable) , 167 
Joan (= peasant), 177 
juvenal, 162 

keel (=cool), 218 
keep (= occupy), 193 
kersey, 208 
King and the Beggar, the, 

164 
kingly-poor, 205 
knave (=boy), 175 
knot (in garden) , 161 
know so much by me, 189 

lady-smocks, 217 
lances (=lancers), 212 
last love, 216 
laus Deo, etc., 196 
lay (= stake), 162 
leaden sword, 209 
lemon stuck with cloves, 

212 
libbard, 211 

liberal (= too free), 213 
lie (= lodge), 159 
lie in my throat, 187 
light (play upon), 165, 

169 
like of, 158, 190 
lisp, 206 
little hole of discretion, 

213 
liver-vein, 188 
long of, 168 



Index of Words and Phrases 229 



Longaville (pronuncia- 
tion), 154, 202 

loose (noun), 214 

Lord have mercy on us ! 
208 

Love (= Venus), 194 

love-feat, 203 

love's Tyburn, 188 

made a doubt, 202 
magnificent (= pompous) , 

175 
mail (=bag), 173 
make an offence gracious, 

200 
makes (= does), 191 
manage, 166, 209 
manager, 166 
Mantuan, 184 
margent, 170 
me (expletive), 137 
mean (= tenor) , 206 
measure (= dance) , 204 
mellowing of occasion , 184 
mere (= absolute) , 157, 

163 
mess (= party of four), 

191, 207 
mete at, 181 
metheglin, 204 
misbecomed, 215 
misprision, 189 
Monarcho, 180 
more sacks to the mill ! 

188 
Moth (pronunciation) , 

154, 190 
mouse (personal), 200 

ne intelligis ? 196 

neither of either, 208 

Nemean lion, 180 

new-fangled, 158 

nice (=coy), 172, 204 

night of dew, 187 

Nine Worthies, the, 199 

nit, 182 

no point, 169, 205 

novi hominem tanquam 

te, 195 
novum, 210 
numbers, 193 

o'erparted, 211 
of all hands, 192 
of (=by), 167 



of (= during), 156 
of force (= perforce), 159 
O Lord, sir ! 162 
opinion (= dogmatism) , 

195 
O's, 201 

out of frame, 177 
owe (= own) , 164, 167 

painful (= exacting), 167 
painted cloth, 211 
parcel (personal), 204 
paritors, 176 
parle, 203 

pass (= pass as) , 200 
passado, 166 
passion (verb), 161 
passion's solemn tears, 

203 
passionate, 170 
past cure is past care, 

290 
patch (play upon), 183 
pathetical, 181 
pauca verba, 186 
pedant (= pedagogue) , 

z 75 
penny of observation, 172 
penthouse-like, 172 
peregrinate, 195 
perjure (= perjurer), 187 
person (= parson), 184, 

191 
pertaunt, 202 
phantasime, 180, 195 
pia mater, 184 
picked (= fastidious), 195 
pied, 217 

pierce (play upon), 184 
pin (of target), 181 
pitch-balls (= eyes) , 177 
pitched a toil, 186 
plackets, 176 
plea (= claim) , 167 
please-man, 208 
point (play upon) , 169 
point you, 170 
point-device, 195 
poisons up, 193 
pomewater, 182 
potent-like, 202 
pox of that jest ! 201 
praise sake, 179 
preambulate, 198 
present (=document), 191 
present (— represent), 200 



prick (of target), 181 
pricket, 182 
prick out, 210 
Priscian scratched, 196 
proceed (play upon), 157 
profound (accent), 190 
pruning (=adorning), 191 
pueritia, 198 
pursent, 210 
push-pin, 190 

qualm, 205 

quick (= lively), 160, 205 

quick (play upon), 212 

quillets, 193 

quis, 198 

quote (= construe) , 216 

quoted (= noted), 188 

rackers of orthography, 

rank (adjective), 216 

rational hind, 164 

raught, 183 

reasons, 195 

reformation (metre), 217 

remember thy courtesy, 
199 

repasture, 180 

requests (= requestest) , 
204 

resolve (= answer) , 168 

respects (= considera- 
tions), 216 

retire (noun), 169 

rubbing (in bowling) , 181 

rub the elbow, 202 

russet, 208 

sain (= said), 174 

Saint Cupid, 202 

Saint Denis, 202 

salve (play upon?), 173 

sanguis, in blood, 182 

sans, 208 

satis quod sufficit, 195 

saucers, 189 

saw (= maxim), 218 

self-sovereignty, 179 

sense of sense, 205 

sensible (= sensitive), 193 

sensibly (play upon), 174 

sequel, 175 

set (=game), 201 

set thee down, sorrow ! 187 

several (play upon), 169 



230 Index of Words and Phrases 



several (= separate) , 203 
shapeless (= unshapely) , 

206 
sheeps (play upon), 169 
ships (play upon), 169 
shrewd, 200 
shrow, 201 

significant (noun), 175 
simplicity, 182, 202 
sir (of priests), 182 
sirs, 191 
sit you out, 159 
situate (= situated) , 165 
skipping (= flighty), 215 
slop, 188 

small (of leg), 212 
sneaping, 157 
so (= so-so), 161 
sod (= sodden), 182 
sola, sola! 182 
sold him a bargain, 174 
solemnized (accent), 167 
sometime, 171 
sonnet (turn), 166 
sore (or soare), 183 
sorel, 183 

sorted (= associated) , 161 
sowed cockle reaped no 

corn, 195 
spirits (monosyllable) , 

204. 
spleen, 174, 203 
squire (= square), 209 
stabbed with laughter, 202 
stand (in hunting), 178 
state (= attitude), 191 
states (= estates) , 208 
statute-caps, 205 
stay not thy compliment, 

186 
stoop (= crooked?), 189 
strains (= impulses), 215 
strucken, 192 
style (play upon), 161, 

180 
sue (play upon) , 208 
suggested (= tempted), 

215 . 
suggestion (= tempta- 
tion) , 160 
suitor (pronunciation), 

180 
sun (play upon) , 194 



swear (rhyme), 180 
sweet my child, 164 
swift, 173 

swoon (spelling), 207 
swore (= sworn), 159 

tables (= backgammon) , 

206 
taffeta, 204 
take you a button lower, 

213 
taken with the manner, 

161 
taking it in snuff, 200 
talent (play upon), 183 
talent (= talon), 183 
tapster (his reckoning) , 

163 
teen, 190 
tharborough, 160 
that (= so that), 189 
that 's hereby, 165 
thin-belly doublet, 172 
thorough (= through), 

170 
though, 169 
thrasonical, 195 
three-piled, 207 
Timon, 190 
tired horse, 185 
to's, 167 
to the death, 203 
to the manner, 207 
tofore, 174 

toiling in a pitch, 186 
tokens (of plague), 208 
tongue filed, 195 
too hard a keeping, 156 
toy (= trifle) , 191 
trencher-knight, 208 
treys, 204 

triumphing (accent) , 187 
Trojan, 212 
true man, 191 
tumbler's hoop, 176 
turn sonnet, 166 
turtles (= doves), 191, 218 
twice-sod, 182 

unconfirmed, 182 
undeserving, 207 
unhappy (= roguish) , 20a 
unpeopled, 168 



up (intensive), 195, 216 
upon the apple of her eye, 

209 
usurping hair, 192 
uttered, 167 

vail (= lower) , 206 

vassal (play upon?), 161 

veal, 204 

ventricle of memory, 184 

venue, 198 

via! 200 

video, et gaudeo, 197 

videsne quis venit? 197 

voice (plural?), 194 

ward (= guard), 175 
ware pencils, 201 
wassails, 206 
wax (play upon) , 200 
weaker vessel, 162 
weeds (= garments), 216 
weeping-ripe, 205 
welkin, 173 
well-advised, 208 
well-liking, 205 
well sympathized, 173 
whale's (dissyllable), 206 
where (= whereas) , 168 
whereuntil, 210 
who (=whom), 166 
wide o' the bow-hand, 

181 
wightly, 177 
wimpled, 175 
wink (=shut the eyes), 

.156 
wit (play upon) , 164 
with that face ? 165 
wit-old, 198 

woodcock (=fool), 188 
woolward, 213 
world's delights, 156 
world-without-end, 216 
wort, 204 
wot, 157 
wreathed (= folded) , 189 

ycleped, 161 
ycliped, 211 

zany, 208 



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